Resident Evil: Convoy
by alexis payton
Summary: Follows Claire Redfield and her Convoy as they navigate through a harsh zombie infested post-apocalyptic desert wasteland. Claire has worked for years on the high walls she's erected to become the fierce leader her Convoy needs. But what happens when a tall shaggy blonde decides to come along for the ride and without even trying, sends those walls crashing down? Femslash Clairice
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**_Weapons of War, Symptoms of Madness_**

"This is Claire Redfield's convoy. Present location the Desert Trail Motel. Lat. 35, Long. 114. Calling any survivors…"

Alice was sitting by a small campfire in the cool of the Mojave Desert night. She reached over and shut off her radio transmitter with a thud. She'd been hearing that same transmission for the last nine days and was surprised each time she heard the name _Claire Redfield_ resonating through the static, spoken by the man with the thick Australian accent. Usually by the time Alice reached any survivors calling out for help, they'd be long dead. But this Claire Redfield seemed intent on breaking that pattern.

Alice had been following the convoy, trailing inconspicuously a few miles behind them. It wasn't like they were asking to be rescued. They were the ones offering a safe haven to others. Since Alice was neither a survivor nor in need of rescue, she found it nonsensical to approach the group.

_What would be the point?_

The sun-bleached blonde focused her attention back on sharpening her Kukri blades. It's become more of a compulsion rather than a necessity over the years. She couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to another living human being. Her apathy toward socialization had become an integral part of identity the last four years she's spent in virtual solitude.

It's not like Alice was happy with her isolation, but she wasn't unhappy either. Then again, she hadn't expected that anyone would still be alive out there, given how rapidly and uncontrollably the virus had spread. The blonde sighed and sheathed her blades before lowering herself back onto her bedroll and stared up reflectively into the exquisite night sky.

There _was_ one thing that made Alice happy. She enjoyed killing the undead that plagued the earth. She found her salvation in every bullet that pierced a mutated skull, and in every swipe of her blade that severed a rotting neck. But even that little bit of joy had become less frequent. Alice has noticed that instead of the undead finding her, she has been forced to hunt them down.

Once, Alice had stood and waited for a throng of undead to attack her just so she could test her strength and abilities. And perhaps it was also inspired, in part, by the stifling monotony of killing the same retarded zombies over and over again. But that day, the undead had just lazily shuffled by her, like she hadn't even been there at all. Only once she had attacked them, did they recognize her as a threat and fought back.

Not like it had been much of a fight in any case. Alice could only surmise that the undead had recognized the T-Virus flowing through her blood and had assumed her to be one of their own.

Alice stared up at the glittering stars that still managed to look the same, even though the world had gone to shit. She found sanctuary in such little things consistencies. No matter what, the stars would always be there, and they would always be the same. The irony was that the starry night had become even more spectacular over the years as the human population diminished to the point of extinction.

She inhaled sharply, able to scent humans and undead for a couple of miles depending on the direction of the wind. Alice could sense Claire Redfield's convoy close by and she closed her eyes, and found herself hoping that when morning came, she would hear their transmission again.

….

Claire woke from a restless sleep at a strange clanking sound coming from the roof of her yellow Hummer. She lifted her green ball cap from her eyes, where it had been shading her from the harsh morning sun. The redhead had always been a light sleeper, even more so since she awoke to a world filled with flesh eating zombies. She doubted that _anyone _could sleep these days, but then a half smirk graced her gorgeous face as she remembered her companion in the backseat, who she always had a hard time waking.

Claire was proud of the fact that K-Mart, the seventeen year old blonde she had saved three years prior, still felt safe enough to enjoy a good night's rest in this fucked up world. A black mass landing on the hood of the car gained Claire's attention and she realized that the crow must've have been the culprit that had disturbed her from a much needed slumber.

The redhead frowned when she noticed the engorged bloodshot eyes of the black bird staring intently at her, and her heart started hammering rapidly as the adrenaline speedily coursed through her veins. The bird took flight and Claire finally noticed that there were hundreds of them lining the rooftops of the rest of Convoy vehicles as well as the roof of the abandoned Motel and rickety telephone lines around the their campsite.

"K!" Claire whispered loudly toward the back seat as she tried her best to stay as low as possible. "K, wake up!" She hissed a bit louder and was grateful when the teenager finally stirred.

"What?" K-Mart mumbled.

"Wake up and stay down." Claire told her sternly and knew that if K-Mart heard her tone she would know exactly to do as she was told.

"What's going on?" The young blonde whispered back, still lying down, but was noticeably wide awake at the redhead's stressed intonation.

Claire didn't answer her, instead she reached for the radio that connected her to the rest of her Convoy and pressed down on the talk button.

"This is Claire. I need you to wake everyone up as quietly as possible and stay inside your vehicles." She spoke in a calm and steady voice repeating the message twice, her eyes never leaving the birds that were seemingly just waiting for them to panic. "Call in when you're ready and alert." She instructed and waited.

"Claire this Carlos. I see them. Ready and alert." Her second in command was the first to radio in.

Carlos Olivera was an ex-mercenary and with his particular skill level, Claire had put him in charge of the Convoy's armoury which was located within the Reo Army Truck he drove and slept in.

"This is Mikey. Ready and alert." Came the Australian accent of Claire's technician who was in charge of sending out transmissions from his news van, setting up security around the campsite and assisting Claire in navigating their way across the zombie infested countryside.

"This is Betty. Awake and fucking freaked out."

Claire smirked at the former paramedic's words. Betty was driving the ambulance that served as the Convoy's mobile hospital.

"Claire this is Chase. Ready and alert." Came the thick southern accent of Claire's sniper, who was also in charge of their gas supply and driving the 18' wheel tanker.

"Slater. Ready and alert."

Claire resisted the urge to growl at the clipped tone of the man in charge of their food and water supplies. She hated dealing with him, he was always looking to start trouble, but nobody else had wanted to step up and take the responsibility into their own hands. She had hoped L.J would volunteer, but his main concern was keeping Betty safe, as though the woman needed anyone to take care of her. So for now Claire was stuck with Slater.

The Convoy leader waited with baited breath as she stared at the school bus, the last vehicle in her Convoy, and who carried the majority of her 42 charges, to sign in. All her vehicles were heavily armoured and virtually impenetrable by the undead. Yes they could break the glass, but they would find it difficult to get through the metal bars that were sturdily welded all around the vehicle structure. It made travelling through the desert so much hotter, but that much safer.

"This is Otto. We are awake and ready to piss our pants."

Claire chuckled to herself as K-Mart finally sat up slowly and stared out the window with wide-eyes.

"This is Claire. For all you Hitchock fans out there… _Fuck you_, let's get out of here."

"Roger that."

"Amen."

"Fuck yes."

"Let's go."

The voices echoed through her radio as the Convoy's engine's roared to life and the birds took to the air in a panicked frenzy. Everyone was moving out slowly when Otto's voice rang through the radio again.

"This is Otto. We seem to be… _stuck_." He relented with clear frustration.

Claire looked in her rear-view mirror as the crows descended on the yellow school bus as though they somehow knew that breakfast was trapped inside. She noticed the wheels of the bus sunk deep into the loose desert sand indicating their predicament.

"Otto is Claire. Get everyone lined up in the middle of the bus. We're coming to get you." She turned the Hummer around and the rest of the Convoy halted, awaiting further instruction.

"Slater this is Claire. Pull up behind the bus and get the ramp out for evacuation. Betty, Carlos, flank the ramp to provide some cover."

Claire pulled up to the bus and watched worriedly as the birds swarmed at the windscreen of the large vehicle. Some looked like they were crushing themselves against the hard metal, as they flew at it repeatedly at ridiculously high speeds. She looked to the back where everyone was in place.

"Chase this is Claire. I need a distraction." She told him very vaguely.

Claire didn't want to mention over the open channel how close the bars covering the windscreen were to caving as a result of the birds' mercilessly hostile attacks. That would only lead to an unneeded panic, and the situation was already tensed enough as it was.

She watched the cowboy exit his tanker and start running for Carlos's truck. The birds seemed focused on the windscreen, probably sensing where most of their meal could be found, until a few became aware of the people being ushered over the ramp and into Slater's panel van, which could hold them all as the Convoy was dangerously low on food.

The angry birds started swooping down but L.J, Betty and Carlos started firing and managed to disorient them somewhat.

"Get behind the wheel." Claire told K-Mart as she exited the vehicle.

It was a precaution she always took when they were under attack and had instructed the young blonde that if anything were to happen to her, K-Mart needed to be ready to drive off and save herself. Claire drew her Glock 17 and hurriedly went to assist the rest of her Convoy.

Chase climbed onto the roof of the army truck where a flamethrower was mounted and directed the powerful blaze at the homicidal birds. The birds, however, only flew higher, out of reach of the flames. Claire counted eleven more passengers to be transferred and prayed that they would have enough fire power to keep the birds distracted for longer.

But then things started to go from bad to worse. Whilst fighting off two infected crows, he lost control of the flamethrower and it started spinning haphazardly, just as another bird swooped down and attacked Anitha, a young survivor, who shrieked and fell off the ramp. In her fright she rolled underneath Carlos's truck and straight out into the open desert.

Carlos gave chase and got to her just as the flamethrower directed its deadly blaze toward the young girl. The ex-mercenary instinctively went to cover the tiny body with his own and braced himself for a painful death.

But it never came.

Claire had been running toward the girl as well, but stopped dead in her tracks and watched on in amazement as the flames heading toward Carlos and the girl seemed to hit an invisible shield. Her mouth hung agape as those flames then lifted high into the air, creating a large bright yellow and orange cloud filled with black smoke that engulfed the murder of crows, causing dead bird remains to rain down on the dumbstruck convoy.

She didn't know what managed to tear her gaze from the astonishing spectacle, but something in her gut drew her attention to a lone figure standing next to a BMW Motorrad K1200R. Claire loved cars and she _especially_ loved bikes, but the magnificent machine paled in comparison to the woman that stood next to it and Claire immediately knew that she was the one controlling the flames.

She walked closer to the blonde who was clad in a sand coloured tank top, a brown shirt with the buttons undone to her lower abdomen and connected to brown stocking-style straps with olive twin leg holsters. She had a dark scarf around her neck and fingerless gloves and it was rounded off with a full length stone coloured duster coat. Claire noticed the handles of two blades sticking out at her waist as well as two more guns mounted on her back, visible at either side of her surprisingly beautiful face.

Claire watched as the woman's eyes appeared almost black as a result of her widely dilated pupils. She focused on a pair of chapped but full luscious lips that were pulled into a haughty smirk, as the shaggy blonde stared up into the fiery sky with an unmistakable air of omnipotence, as the dead birds plummeted down all around her.

The Convoy leaders' legs became like lead as she figured out just who had come to their aid. She had known it even before Carlos straightened and whispered a disbelieving '_Alice_' at the sight of his long lost ally. The sky cleared as suddenly as the woman had appeared and she stumbled slightly at the obvious strain the use of her telekinetic powers had caused.

Both Claire and Carlos moved toward her to offer support, but Carlos had been closer and reached his friend first. Alice smiled when she saw the man and hugged him tightly.

…..

Alice was visibly drained after killing all the infected birds, but stepped away from Carlos's hold nonetheless. She would be better soon enough and she wasn't about to pass out in front of all these people. She looked passed Carlos as all the convoy members came filing out of the van and bus. There were so many of them. It had been eight months since Alice had last seen real live people, and for a while, before the transmissions had started, she had seriously considered that there may not be any humans left.

Her attention shifted to a redhead wearing a green ball cap and large gold framed Police sunglasses. The woman had on a tank top, with brown suspenders and green cargo pants tucked in a pair of army boots. Her Glock remained clasped in her hand even though the threat was long gone. Alice found it difficult to tear her eyes away from the woman when Carlos spoke next to her.

"Of all the Motels in the world, you had to walk into this one." Carlos quipped grinning widely at her.

"I just couldn't stay away from you Olivera." Alice grinned back at him.

"Oh is that why it took you four years to find me?" He teased. "I missed you." He said hugging her again but let go when someone cleared their throat behind them.

Alice stepped away from the big man and locked eyes with the redhead who had hooked her sunglasses onto her tank top.

"Claire Redfield." The redhead stated, extending her hand. Her tone was crisp and professional, like they were at a business meeting, Alice noted.

"Alice." She offered, clasping the woman's fingerless gloved hand with her own.

"_The_ Alice?" Claire cocked her head to the side suspiciously lifting her brow and turned to Carlos for confirmation.

Alice frowned as she wondered what Carlos had been telling these people about her.

"The one and only." Carlos grinned back then shifted his gaze to where Alice and Claire still firmly had their hands clasped together.

It was the redhead that let go first and looked very grateful when Betty called out to her from the ambulance where she was examining Anitha.

"Excuse me. I have things I have to attend to." Claire nodded to the blonde and Carlos and walked off.

Alice barely had time to wonder what had just happened when L.J. came flying at her and wrapped her into a boisterous bear hug. She laughed loudly as he spun her around enthusiastically.

…

Claire stopped her trek to the ambulance when she heard the woman's laughter behind her. She couldn't believe that it was really _her_. For years she had thought that Carlos and L.J had just made her up, to give hope to the Convoy, when all hope was lost. On occasion it had been good for the survivors to hear that there was someone out there who had made it her mission in life to fight against the undead. Claire had thought Alice to be a myth, or perhaps a drastic dramatization of the truth, but somehow she could almost feel the power radiating from Alice's very attractive body.

Distracted by the blonde and L.J's loud reunion, she almost walked straight into the ambulance, only just stopping herself from a major embarrassment.

"Who's that?" Betty asked.

"That's Alice." Claire answered absently as her eyes unwillingly shifted back to the woman who had managed to _bond_ with the T-Virus instead of being turned by it.

"_The_ Alice?" Betty asked sceptically.

"_The_ Alice." Claire confirmed, before shaking her head and focusing on Anitha.

They had to check the young girl for any signs of infection and a few others who had been attacked and as soon as possible. Claire needed to get her convoy on the road again.

…

Alice leaned against her bike, watching as the convoy members all dutifully set out at their respective tasks with purpose. Packing up and lining up the vehicles in what she assumed was the order they drove in. Most attention seemed to be on repairing the protective bars of the bus's windscreen, and digging the large vehicle from the sand. They made use of cables connected to the vehicle batteries as a power source and Alice was mildly impressed by their proficiency.

She couldn't get over the fact that there were so many survivors and she could hardly keep her eyes off of Claire Redfield as the redhead barked out a variety of orders which were promptly followed by men both older and larger than her.

Now that had Alice really impressed.

"Hi." A voice came from her side and Alice turned to the blonde teenager whose approached she had noticed a few moments prior.

"Hey." Alice smiled at her and was amused at the coy smile and blush she received in return.

The girl stretched her arm out and handed Alice a bracelet crafted with an assortment of intricate and colourful electrical wiring.

"I wanted to give you this." The young woman spoke shyly. "To say thank you for saving us." She smiled at Alice with undisguised awe and admiration.

"Thank you." Alice said taking the bracelet and placing it on her right wrist. "It's beautiful." She complimented the girl who had clearly made it considering that her own two wrists adorned similar accessories. "What's your name?" She asked.

"K-Mart." The girl answered and at Alice's questioning look continued. "It's where Claire found me… A few years back."

"Do you have another name?"

"Never liked it. Everyone I knew was dead so… seemed like time for a change." She shrugged.

Alice nodded pensively. What did names really matter anymore? It wasn't like she herself had been born with her current one.

"And you're Alice." The girl grinned shyly and Alice raised an eyebrow at how everyone seemed to know who she was. "Carlos and L.J told us about what you did in Raccoon City." K-Mart elaborated. "We didn't think you were real."

Alice made to comment but was distracted by the approaching steps of the Convoy's leader. She turned to watch Claire Redfield walk up to where she was still leaning against her bike. The redhead's gait held a calculated determination. She screamed authority and Alice noticed the young blonde next to her tense at her leader's arrival. _Guess she wasn't supposed to be talking to the freak_, Alice thought to herself.

"Go make sure the Hummer is packed up K." Claire told the girl in a gentler tone than Alice had expected and watched the teenager rush off after giving Alice another bashful yet bright grin.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier today. You saved two of my people's lives." Claire told Alice.

"I think I saved a lot more than just two, don't you think?" Alice retorted with an arrogant smirk.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt an uncontrollable need to get under the stoic leaders skin. To just rattle Claire's cage a little. Five years in the desert and Claire Redfield still looked like she was on a three day camping trip. It was surreal. It wasn't normal to find such beauty when the world basked in the cruel and ugly aftermath of the Umbrella outbreak.

Claire chuckled humourlessly at her statement.

"The rest of us would've been fine." She stated confidently.

Alice shrugged.

"Guess we'll never know now."

Claire hummed but seemed to be thinking about something else entirely. Alice was happy to just watch the redhead as the woman seemed to figure out what to say next.

"Are you dangerous?" Claire asked Alice outright.

"Depends." Alice smirked but Claire didn't even hint at a smile, her bright blue eyes piercing Alice deeply.

"Do you pose a threat to this Convoy?" Claire rephrased earnestly.

"Carlos and L.J are my friends." Alice started nonchalantly. "I don't know any of you. I will defend myself if I'm attacked. Other than that I honestly don't give enough of a damn to pose a threat to _this Convoy_." She answered truthfully.

"We're setting out within the hour. You may join us on your bike. Chase can hook you up with gas if you need it." Claire announced before turning to go and make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to.

"You're not scared of what I can do?" Alice asked incredulously and Claire halted and turned around again.

Usually when people saw Alice's abilities they were frightened and ran in the opposite direction. Four years ago, she had been forced to leave Carlos, L.J, Jill and Angie behind because she was scared that she would hurt them. But that was four years ago, she had made and effort to practice her skill and could now control her psionic abilities. Well mostly. Alice still had the odd mishap when she had a nightmare, but that didn't happen too often.

"There are way more scarier things out there than _you_ Alice. And if Carlos trusts you, I'm willing to give it a go." Claire admitted coolly. "Bear in mind though, my Convoy comes first. If you pose a threat to any of my people, I will personally put a bullet through your head regardless of your friendship with two of my men." Claire asserted before turning around and walking off.

It was as Alice stood staring at Claire Redfield's magnificent ass, that Carlos joined her again.

"You're barking up the wrong tree." He chuckled noting the look on his old friend's face.

"Why? 'Cause your already barking up there?" Alice smirked at him.

"She doesn't date or anything else you might have in mind. I'm not even sure whether she's gay or straight. She's not allowed anyone near her in the two years I've travelled with this convoy."

"Maybe that's 'cause she hasn't met me in the last two years." Alice grinned mischievously and Carlos groaned in response.

"Claire's got a lot on her shoulders Alice. She doesn't make time for anything else. She lives for this Convoy. Its safety and continued burgeoning is _all_ she cares about."

Alice had already assessed as much from her minimal contact with the redhead, but further scrutiny into Claire Redfield's sex life would have to wait for later.

"Where are Jill and Angie Carlos?" She asked, averting her gaze from him and staring dejectedly at the yellow desert sand at her boots.

"We got separated when a throng attacked the safe house. I found L.J wandering around later. We looked for Jill and Ange, but didn't find them. We are still looking."

Alice nodded.

"Me too." She admitted biting her lip.

It had been a hard decision leaving them unprotected, yet also still having to leave for their protection. Survivors who wanted to remain alive have taken to the road. It's nearly impossible to try and find anyone and with Jill Valentine's survival skills, they may be able to stay veiled for a very long time.

"Why did you leave Alice?"

"I was dangerous. I couldn't control my powers. I was scared I would hurt you." Alice listed.

"Are you still dangerous?" Carlos asked tentatively.

Alice grinned at him.

"Only to the undead."

Carlos beamed back in clear relief. Alice shifted her gaze from him into the distance.

"What about K-Mart?" Alice asked as she watched the teenager talking to a blonde boy at a news van.

"What about her?" Carlos asked frowning.

"How old is she?"

"Alice!" Carlos groaned and Alice chuckled.

There were few things left on earth that amused Alice. Provoking people was one of them.

"I think she has a little crush on me." Alice smirked. "She's the cutest little creeper to have ever crept around me." She laughed then sobered naturally. "She has an innocence about her though, something I haven't seen in a very long time. It's almost like she's only slightly been tainted by the life we're forced to live now." The blonde pondered aloud.

"Claire has taken her under her wing. She tries her best to give K-Mart a sense of normalcy."

Alice snorted derisively.

"What is normal anymore?" Alice stated rhetorically. "Mind if I stick around for a bit?" She asked her friend even though the leader had given her the go ahead already.

"Will you keep your hands off of Claire Redfield?" Carlos asked raising an eyebrow.

Alice laughed as she gracefully swung a leg over her large bike.

"What about my lips?" She gave him a lazy grin that had the big man blushing at the innuendo. But he soon recovered and scowled at her playfully.

"Fine." Alice sang as she started the bike's engine. "I promise to keep my hands off of Red for as long as she wants me to." Alice winked at him and rode off chuckling to go and take her place in Claire Redfield's convoy.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Set in Extinction with a pinch of Afterlife and a dash of Apocalypse. I've changed a few things to focus more on Convoy life. Starts with a murder of crows, will end with a helicopter leaving for Alaska.**

**Tips: Go watch Extinction. I ****especially**** suck at describing settings.**

** Chapter 2**

**_Seems like everywhere you turn, catastrophe reigns. _**

Claire wasn't exactly sure why, but she felt equal parts relieved and anxious when Alice's bike pulled up behind her yellow Hummer and fell in line with the Convoy as they set out on the seemingly desolate stretch of desert road for yet another day's journey. Claire didn't like staying in one place for too long, the undead, even at their tediously slow pace, had a way of finding humans even out in the middle of nowhere. And now with the added threat of _birds_ and even infected dogs, Claire was willing to do whatever it took to protect her Convoy.

Even if that meant putting up with the arrogant smirk of the legendary Alice, who saved Carlos and L.J and killed countless of undead in Raccoon City and thereafter. _The_ Alice who could move objects with her mind and was stronger and faster than any human or undead. Claire resigned herself to putting up with the woman who had managed to get under her skin within the span of only a few minutes. The leader saw what she did to those birds, if Alice hadn't shown up when she had, she would've lost a lot of people. That was something Claire would never admit to the blonde woman though.

"I can't believe she's real." K-Mart almost squealed in the passenger seat, glancing back at the blonde on her BMW following behind them. "And she's so beautiful. Did you ever think she'd be this beautiful?" The teenager asked Claire who let out a long suffering sigh.

"No I didn't." She told her young companion, trying her best not to make the girl feel self-conscious about her excitement.

It was nice to see K-Mart so interested in something. Even when that something was an egomaniacal superhuman with legs for days. Claire started when said blonde pulled up next to the driver's side window. Had the leader not been used to being attacked at random by the undead, she would've mostly likely swerved and lost control over her SUV at Alice's abrupt manifestation.

Reluctantly she lowered her window and glared at the dark riding goggles Alice was wearing to protect her eyes from the harsh desert elements.

"Hey K!" Alice's crooked smile greeted the teenager first who blushed and waved at her. "Hey Red." Alice's grin broadened as Claire's glare darkened before she continued talking. "I'm sensing something up ahead. You mind slowing down?"

Claire immediately forgot about coming up with a nickname for Alice, Blondie seemed too obvious, and slowed down the Hummer, and subsequently the convoy, as Alice sped on ahead of them.

"This is Carlos. Everything okay up there?" the radio crackled in the cabin of the Hummer as the two occupant's eyes remained trained on Alice. Claire blindly reached out and pressed the talk button down on the radio.

"This is Claire. Possible threat ahead. Stay Alert." She instructed.

Six 'Roger That's' were heard before Claire noticed that Alice had stopped her bike in the middle of the road and was now holding up her hand for the Convoy to stay back. Claire obeyed the instruction without much thought. She wasn't used to being told what to do, but she trusted Alice right off the bat and that was what had Claire way more perplexed than any of the other multitude of feelings the shaggy blonde conjured within her.

Seemingly out of nowhere a large axe suddenly came crashing down, narrowly missing Alice who managed to jump out of the way in the nick of time. In the SUV's cabin both K-Mart and Claire shrieked in surprise. This was their first time seeing such a large undead creature, and one that was wielding a weapon no less. He was three times Alice's size and when another strike almost hit her, Claire sprang into action.

"This is Claire. Otto turn the bus around and ready your escape route. Chase, pull the tanker out of any possible line of fire. The rest of you, line up, stay out of the way, and let's provide Superwoman with some cover." She instructed before dropping the radio, grabbing her Mossberg and jumping out of the H2.

"Get behind the wheel K." She instructed the blonde before she climbed up onto the roof of the vehicle lifting the brim of her cap so she could have a clearer view ahead of her.

The ambulance and the army truck flanked her on either side and on the outer ends were the food and news vans. Everyone was standing outside their vehicles, weapons drawn, watching Alice get thrown around like a ragdoll. They were so immersed in the David and Goliath battle that they hardly noticed the uncharacteristically dark clouds gathering above them.

Claire had been aiming her shotgun, but Alice with her Kukri blades drawn seemed to be everywhere all at once. But no matter what the blonde did, the Axeman just wouldn't stay down. The leader watched as Alice sliced through the giant's ankle and he lowered to one knee. Alice then ran toward her bike and jumped on it, riding toward the convoy whose eyes widened in unison at the imminent threat Alice's proximity would result in. Nobody made a move though, as Claire Redfield still stood poised on the rooftop of her yellow Hummer, aiming at the fallen giant, and began firing as soon as Alice was in the clear.

The blonde brought her bike to a screeching sliding halt in front of the yellow SUV. She climbed off her BMW and Claire was surprised and admittedly disappointed that Alice had given up and actually _ran away_ from the fight. The leader jumped off her vehicle to get closer to the Axeman herself, and very promptly found Alice's saddlebags being shoved in her arms. She frowned at the dirty blonde.

"Hold on to these for me 'kay Red?" Alice grinned and winked. "I'll be right back." She said and Claire could see that Alice was far from scared or giving up. The blonde actually seemed _excited_, like a child on Christmas morning. Claire watched as Alice casually flung a long leg over her large motorcycle and started spinning her back wheel, revving the large bike in preparation of a powerful burnout.

Alice's goggles was hanging around her neck now, Claire observed the intense concentration on the blonde's face. She smiled slightly as she noted the familiar bracelet on Alice's arm. She too was wearing a similar one. As if sensing Claire's blue eyes studying her, Alice briefly glanced back at the redhead. The older woman smirked arrogantly as she revved the bike ever higher, causing Claire to clutch onto the saddlebags she was still holding onto just a little bit tighter.

So she liked bikes a little too much. The redhead blushed and looked away from Alice who was grinning at her knowingly, before she let go of her brakes, and with a loud screaming and leaving dark grey smoke in its wake, the bike wheelied toward the Axeman who was steadily nearing the survivors.

"That was so hot!" K-Mart shouted from the driver's side window and Claire hummed her agreement, biting down on her lip and watching in nervous anticipation as Alice neared the giant once again.

The BMW came to a sudden halt in front of the Axeman, tilting onto its front wheel and Alice spun the backside so that it hit through the large undead. He only faltered slightly as Alice found her balance on two wheels again, and started circling her opponent menacingly. The rest of the Convoy had long since lowered their weapons and stood in awe, with their leader, watching the tall blonde use her motorcycle as a weapon.

Finally Alice grew impatient at the lack of dying the Axeman was doing. She sped a few yards away from him and dismounted.

"Get ready Red!" She shouted back at Claire, who out of pure instinct finally dropped the saddlebags and lifted her shotgun assuming correctly that this is what Alice had meant. The blonde then lifted her bike by its handles and tail, spun around a few times like a discus thrower and launched the bike directly at the undead.

Claire cocked her shotgun the moment the bike left Alice's grasp and a chorus of similar actions resounded from the rest of the Convoy members.

"Fire!" The leader shouted and the convoy rained bullets onto the bike as it headed toward the Axeman and exploded on impact, sending pieces of undead giant littering the humid desert air.

"Stay back." Claire ordered as she cocked her shotgun again and followed Alice toward the mutilated undead body, to make sure it wouldn't get up again.

"Smells delicious." Claire remarked sarcastically as she came up to Alice's side.

Even if the undead managed to get up, those parts that rose wouldn't be much of a threat. Claire looked at the pieces of metal stuck in the burned flesh and sighed.

"Did you have to destroy the bike?" She asked mournfully and Alice smirked at her.

"Technically _you_ destroyed the bike." Alice chuckled when Claire just rolled her eyes in response.

A thunderous roar had them looking up into the sky and soon large raindrops were falling down around them. Alice's grin broadened as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool water trickling down her face.

"Claire!" Carlos's voice gained the leader's attention where she was staring mesmerized at Alice's reaction to the rain.

She turned to her second in command and gave him the thumbs up, opting to say nothing as she directed her attention back to Alice's oddly tranquil looking features. The blonde's eyelids fluttered open and Claire was met with bright green eyes, with a slight blue ring around them.

Alice didn't seem to mind being stared at, so Claire continued inspecting her face thoroughly. This woman was not what she had expected at all. She had instantly gone from a magnificently fierce warrior to gorgeously innocent and serene. The redhead's gaze drifted to Alice's lips that were pulled into that exasperating smirk once again.

Alice hummed to herself and slowly her grin widened.

"We should get wet together more often Red." She husked seductively.

At the insinuation a variety of images flew through the redhead's mind and she blushed, huffed, swiftly turned around, and walked back to her Convoy not sparing the infuriating blonde another glance.

…..

They hadn't travelled very far that day but Claire had them set up camp regardless, as the sun lay low on the horizon. Earlier when the Convoy had set out after Alice's battle with the Axeman, the blonde was unsure as to where she would get a lift from. So instead of asking, she had remained to the side of the road and stuck out her thumb, much to K-Mart's delight, as her and Claire would obviously be the first to pass her.

Alice smiled to herself as she remembered getting into the backseat of the Hummer, her saddlebags already placed caringly on the seat next to her. Whether it had been K-Mart or Claire that had placed them there, she didn't know. The leader had blatantly ignored her for most of the trip, but K-Mart made up for it with her continuous animated chatter.

Alice now sat at her own little campfire on her bedroll, even though the Convoy had a bonfire going, where a meagre supper was being prepared. Alice busied herself with sorting through the coins she had gathered when the Convoy had come across a deserted Truck Stop earlier that day. They found nothing the Convoy could use, and Alice couldn't help but smile at how much the world had changed when the cash register full of money meant nothing to the forty odd humans she now travelled with.

"We need to find food Claire!" Slater shouted at the leaders' back where she had been walking to her precious Hummer and the redhead halted right in front of Alice to turn and face the man stalking after her.

"I _know_." She gritted out tensely clearly battling to remain calm.

Alice sat up straighter, watching the interaction with unmasked interest.

"Then _do_ something about it." Slater challenged.

Claire's chest was heaving, a red flush spread up her neck and she looked as though she was about to explode. A few members of the Convoy had gathered around the two, but none seemed surprised at the edgy interaction.

"We will send out scouts in the morning as we had_ just_ discussed in the meeting. If you had a problem with that plan, why didn't you raise it _then_?" Claire's voice was strained and her whole body was visibly bristling with antagonism.

"It's not so much the plan I have a problem with, but recently I have come to doubt your capabilities as a leader." Slater stated with a smug grin.

For some reason Claire seemed to relax at hearing this. Her shoulders slacked and she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her challenger with blatant amusement.

"Really? This again? You still want to lead this Convoy even though nobody trusts you to do so?" She asked him.

"I think I will be much better at it than you." Slater told her. "But tonight I wish to nominate someone I think is a lot better suited to the task than either of us." He spoke casually and then turned to Alice whose eyebrows shot into her hairline in surprise.

She said nothing as the icy glare she received from Claire and the shock of the statement momentarily stunned her.

"She can clearly protect us better, and I'm sure that she would've found food by now. Just step down Claire, and let someone more competent take the reins for once." Slater stated with blatantly false empathy.

Alice watched as Claire actually seemed to consider his proposal and scowled at the redhead for giving up so easily. Claire Redfield would clearly do whatever was needed to protect her convoy, even if that meant handing over her leadership to someone _she_ deemed worthy.

"I hate to interrupt this little mutiny." Alice's gruff voice broke into the eerie quiet that had fallen around the campsite at Slater's proposition. "But I feel I should clarify that this convoy is nothing more to me than a bucket of chum thrown into shark infested waters. A group of humans this large is bound to attract a lot of undead and I'm just here to kill them. That's _all_." Alice emphasized and leaned back against the rock at her back like she was relaxing into a recliner. "Please continue though, I haven't been this entertained in years." She smirked at both Slater and Claire's very different expressions.

The man stared at her in shock. Why he thought she would back him up, Alice didn't know. Claire's darkened features weren't a surprise at all.

"And you're nothing more to us than a rabid pit-bull we keep around as a _guard dog_." Claire seethed indignantly.

"Touché." Alice conceded with a smirk that had Claire's hackles rising again, but the redhead turned her ire toward Slater instead.

Slowly and methodically Claire started disarming in front of the increasingly nervous looking man.

"I'm sick and tired of you challenging my authority around every corner like a little bitch. You think you can protect this Convoy better than I can Slater? It takes a lot more than knowing how to shoot a gun or throw a punch, that's for sure. But let's start with the basics." Claire told him as she handed her weapons to K-Mart.

"You and me. One on One. Hand to Hand. First one to knock the other unconscious gets to lead this Convoy." Claire challenged.

Slater looked apprehensive and glanced anxiously at the crowd that had formed around them. Alice too examined the expressions on the Convoy members' faces. None seemed particular upset at Claire's bartering with the Convoy. Most stood smirking at Claire's challenge and others were glaring angrily at Slater.

Alice folded her arms and readied herself for the show.

She wasn't disappointed as the leader ducked at the sucker punch Slater threw out of nowhere and her first blow broke his nose sending a satisfying pop crackling through the cooling night air. Alice watched Claire dance expertly on her feet, showing off both a natural and professional fighting ability. A knee went up into Slater's stomach and another hit him in the throat.

Alice noticed that Claire wasn't even using her full strength. Instead she seemed to be drawing out the fight to humiliate her aggressor. She could've easily knocked Slater out already; the idiot couldn't block to save his life.

"Aw put him out of his misery Red!" Alice shouted in her raspy voice feeling the need to show where her allegiance lay in the match up and it elicited a pompous smirk from Claire, who promptly kneed Slater in the face, knocking him into oblivion.

Loud cheers went up from the rest of the Convoy and Claire did an elaborate bow before she turned on her heel and continued on her original route toward her Hummer.

"God I've been wanting to do that forever." Alice heard Claire whisper to K-Mart who was walking next to her giggling and handing the leader back her weapons.

Alice chuckled to herself and sat up again, taking hold of her own weapons to start cleaning them as the rest of the crowd dispersed.

No one came to Slater's aid.

…

**A/N****: Obviously the Axeman first appears in Afterlife at the prison. I'm not sure where I heard the term, if that is what that particular undead is actually called or if I read it in someone else's FF. If anyone knows which author coined it, please let me know so I may reference him/her next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**_When you kissed my lips, with my mouth so full of questions, a worried mind you quiet…_**

"How's Slater doing?" Claire asked Betty as she hopped into the back of the ambulance to escape the scorching heat of the desert sun.

"Well his nose will never look the same again, but he's delusional enough to have his ego recover fully." Betty smirked. "We know you could've hurt him _way_ more."

Claire shrugged.

"I wanted to, but what would that have proved? Dragging around an injured man would just be more work than anything else."

"You could've just shot him." Betty stated casually. "Nobody would've blamed you." She chuckled and Claire grinned at her.

"I'll rather save my ammo for the undead."

Surprisingly enough, Claire had never killed a man before. Sure she's killed her fair share of zombies, but somehow given the burden on her shoulders of protecting the lives of the few survivors, made it almost impossible for the leader to take a life just because she lost her temper on a moronic asshole.

When any of the Convoy got infected, Betty had a cocktail they were injected with to put them at rest peacefully. Though those deaths also lay heavy on Claire's conscious, such euthanizing methods were a necessity, and the infected person often insisted on it.

"Carlos!" She called to her second as he walked past the ambulance.

The man turned to her with an open smile and approached his leader hastily.

"I'm going to head out soon to check out some of the surrounding towns for supplies." Claire stated. "I don't want to move the entire Convoy, it'll be quicker and safer that way."

"When do we leave?" Carlos asked.

"I'll take Sam with me. I want you to stay here and keep an eye on things." Claire explained.

Carlos clearly didn't like the idea, but he nodded nonetheless and walked off. If her Convoy were to remain longer in the same place, Claire would leave them with as much protection as she could.

…..

Alice watched curiously as the leader and the teenage blonde argued about her leaving to look for supplies.

"Why don't you take Alice?" K-Mart huffed, crossing her arms and pouting petulantly at Claire.

"Because it's not her responsibility. And everyone will be safer with her _here_ while I'm gone." Claire told the younger girl patiently.

Alice couldn't help but feel a little bit flattered that Claire trusted her to keep the Convoy safe. Well, she was their faithful guard dog after all.

Alice smiled to herself and turned her focus back on sorting and re-sorting her quarters, another compulsion she'd developed over the years she had spent in seclusion. She would count the coins over and over again, stacking them in little heaps as though she was playing with a disjointed abacus.

It wasn't long after Claire and Sam left that K-Mart made her way over to Alice's camp, with Mikey in tow.

"What you doin?" K-Mart asked eyeing the quarters curiously.

"Just a hobby." Alice smiled at her. "I'm a collector of sorts."

Alice had expected the girl to further her interrogation but K-Mart seemed to be there on another mission.

"I'm worried about Claire… out there, on her own." The young blonde dramatically motioned to the vast desert landscape before she sat down on a log next to Alice. Mikey remained standing next to the teenager, eyeing Alice's small artillery warily.

"I'm sure she can handle herself." Alice commented honestly. _And she wasn't on her own either_.

"She can," K-Mart sighed. "But I've got a really bad feeling Alice." She said drearily.

Alice observed the young woman for a moment. She wasn't one to trust other people's 'bad feelings', but Alice had survived a lot over the years, often on gut instinct alone.

"You want me to follow her?" Alice queried after a long silence and couldn't help but return K-Mart's big grin at what the teenager perceived as an offer of assistance.

The girl nodded emphatically.

"Where does she plan on going?" Alice asked chuckling to herself, it wasn't like she could exactly say no _now_.

K-Mart turned to Mikey, who retrieved a map from his back pocket and handed it to Alice.

….

Three towns later, the sun already about to fade away and Claire had yet to come across anything salvageable to take back to her Convoy. All they managed to find were a few startled undead that were now dead for good.

The leader was starting to get angry with herself as she bitterly contemplated the irony of her people starving to death after having survived the hordes of infected they'd come across since the Outbreak.

"This is KLKB. We have seven people here in need of urgent medical attention. This is KLKB, can anyone hear us? Can anyone help us? Please?" A woman's pleas rung over the radio and Claire's silent companion Sam, in the passenger side of the Hummer, stared at his leader expectantly.

Claire groaned and sped up on impulse. Currently they didn't have food for seven more people and they had limited medical supplies, but she could hardly ignore the desperate cry for help.

They pulled up to the dilapidated radio station in no time and got out cautiously. Claire's Glock was in her right hand with the safety removed as they entered the building.

They walked side by side, further into the dark structure. Graffiti littered the walls with illustrating messages regarding the undead. 'Burn them' one read and Claire rolled her eyes. If it had said shoot them in the head it would've been more plausible. Even with a flamethrower they could still keep on coming at you, spreading the hazardous flames wherever they went.

Soft crying got her attention and she followed the sound with her gun extended in front of her, ever deeper into the large darkening building. She had forgotten to take her torch and as the sun set outside, the light inside diminished even more.

Something just didn't feel right. But before Claire could listen to her instincts gnawing at her to get the hell out of there, she found the woman who'd been crying holding a bundle wrapped in blankets, tenderly in her arms. Claire couldn't remember the last time she had seen a baby or a child younger than fourteen years old. Anitha was the youngest member of her Convoy. Kids just weren't able to survive in this world, they were far too fragile and too slow and they made the adults protecting them vulnerable as well.

"My baby…" The large woman moaned. "Please?" Claire recognised the woman's voice from the transmission. "Please help my baby." She pleaded.

"Cover me Sam."

She didn't need to give the instruction, Sam already stood with his back to her, guardedly scanning the area.

Claire shifted her gun to the woman and away from the probable baby. It was too small, no way this woman fell pregnant a year ago in this zombie infested world and successfully carried, birthed and cared for a new-born baby.

"Open up the blankets." She instructed the woman whose features immediately went darker at being suspected.

She hissed and threw the bundle at Claire who in spite of her disbelief still tried to catch what she knew wasn't a baby, but instinctively tried to save it nonetheless. She dropped the doll she eventually found in her arms and came face to face with a shotgun and the sneering woman.

"You Bitch." The woman chuckled darkly. "You dropped my baby."

Claire's blood started boiling. She had been willing to put her entire Convoy at risk to try and save these… these… _savages_! She leapt forward and grabbed the shotgun with no regard for her own safety and all hell broke loose as her and Sam came under fire.

On pure impulse, as a result of years of fighting the undead, she shot a large hole straight through the duplicitous woman. Sam was firing repeatedly into the darkness where more shots resounded from. Claire tried to fire again, but the shotgun ran empty, so she let go of it and searched unsuccessfully for the Glock she had dropped in the darkness when she tried to catch the_ doll_ that had been thrown at her.

Sam was a great shot, that's why the leader had chosen him to accompany her, but even Claire knew they were at a disadvantage in the darkness which had befallen the radio station once the sun disappeared over the horizon.

"Do you have an extra gun?" She whispered loudly at him.

He drew his second Taurus PT92AF, bent down and slid it to her.

The firing didn't stop for what seemed like hours as Sam and Claire tried to ascertain the position of their attackers. Eventually Sam ran out of ammo and Claire stopped firing instantly. They would be sitting ducks if they didn't move now.

"Run. I'll cover you," She instructed and started shooting again, never doubting she'd be obeyed.

She shot round after round into the darkness as they backed away quickly in the direction of the exit. Claire was relieved to see the dim light provided by the slightly less dark Nevada evening sky, but then realised their assailants now had a better visual and it was soon proven when a bullet pierced straight through Sam's skull and the young man fell to the ground.

Claire swallowed down her scream and continued to fire as she finally managed to exit the building, holstering her gun when the last shell left the chamber and started running toward the Hummer. At the driver's side window her heart sank when she found the car locked and the keys she'd left inside gone. She stared longingly at her spare Glock and Mossberg.

She'd made so many mistakes that day and it had cost Sam his life. She wanted to kick herself, but didn't have enough time as her body started moving again toward the building, sticking close to the wall for cover. She couldn't risk running into any wide open spaces. She had no idea how many men were still inside of that building. How many would be coming after her.

When she reached the corner of the long structure, two strong arms reached out and grabbed her, a hand immediately going to cover her mouth. She started struggling futilely against her captor's firm grasp and found herself unceremoniously shoved up against the wall at the side of the building.

"Red." She felt lips brushing against her ear and shuddered at the familiar husky voice. "It's me." Alice whispered as Claire already started relaxing into the blonde woman's embrace.

Alice gently removed her hand from Claire's mouth and the redhead rested her forehead against Alice's shoulder as her whole body going limp in relief. Claire instantly felt safe, even though the threat was still very much real.

….

Alice remained vigilant, scanning the area as she listened to Claire's heart rate slow down and her breathing even out, as the redhead leaned heavily against her. Alice was hesitant at moving since Claire seemed unable to support her own weight, so she gently pinned Claire against the wall with her own body and peaked around the corner noticing two men searching around the Hummer.

Alice frowned as Claire's heart rate increased again and the redhead brought her hands up to lightly grasp at Alice's shoulders as if to push her away, but didn't do so. The older woman's frown deepened until she saw Claire nervously worrying at her bottom lip. Alice then became aware of her leg propped firmly between Claire's thighs to keep her up.

The slightly taller woman smirked devilishly at the reaction her proximity had on the redhead, but to test her theory, she gently applied just a little more pressure and grinned widely when she saw Claire shutting her eyes tightly and sucking her entire lower lip into her mouth.

"Claire…" Alice husked softly, to gain the woman's attention.

She had meant to ask where Sam was, but when Alice stared down into wide sparkling blue eyes, she lost her train of thought and could just duck her head down and press her lips firmly against Claire's. The redhead responded instantly, parting her lips readily and caressing them slowly over Alice's.

Alice had almost forgotten how good it felt to just _kiss_ someone and her mind fogged over as she pressed impossibly closer into Claire's body and deepened the kiss. A low throaty moan from the redhead only served as incentive as Alice snaked out her tongue and dipped eagerly into the warm moistness of Claire Redfield's mouth.

Claire's arms circled Alice's neck and a hand tangled into blonde shaggy hair, mindlessly massaging Alice's scalp. Alice lifted the hand holding her gun to take hold of Claire's waist and the cold hard steel of her weapon reminded Alice of where they were. She wakened from her Claire induced stupor just in time to hear a finger press down on a trigger and a loud shot ringing out into the quiet desert night, sending a bullet straight towards Claire's head.

On instinct Alice's arm went up and she nailed the shooter through his forehead. She took a step away from Claire and rounded the corner, where she disposed of the remaining two attackers in the same manner, not wasting a single bullet.

She turned back to Claire who was standing in her same position, staring at the bullet suspended in the air next to her. Alice relaxed when she realised the redhead was unharmed and allowed the bullet to drop to the ground and finally Claire's blue eyes, focused on her again.

"Th-Thanks." Claire murmured as she stumbled from the wall.

Alice moved to assist her, but Claire halted her movements with a brush of her hand and she righted herself and straightened up.

"We need to get Sam." Claire stated and hastened past the confused blonde.

Alice stayed wary, even though the inside of the building appeared void of any living creature. She watched as Claire ruffled through the pockets of the men Alice had shot and discovered her car keys on the second victim she searched.

The redhead then went to the Hummer and unlocked the doors, leaving the trunk open as she walked steadfastly back into the building, not an ounce of hesitation visible. Alice stood aside as Claire took off her shirt and wrapped it around Sam's head where most of its contents had spilled out onto the floor.

Claire didn't flinch at the gruesome sight as she hooked her arms under Sam's pits and started dragging him with great effort toward the SUV. Only when she was unable to lift the man into the trunk, did she allow Alice to assist her.

Claire then grabbed her torch and entered the building again. Alice following behind her with a look of puzzlement permanently plastered on her face. They discovered three dead bodies and soon found what Claire had been searching for: Boxes of canned food and ammunition. Claire seemed relieved as she picked up a box and started carrying it back to the car.

Alice did the same without being asked to and followed after her and watched as Claire packed the boxes onto the back seat. When there was no more room, Claire carefully placed the remaining boxes around Sam's body.

"How'd you get here?" Claire asked scanning the area for another vehicle.

"I ran." Alice shrugged grinning at her.

It had been easier cutting over the desert rather than going on the roads. She had caught up to Claire and Sam at the second town, electing to stay out of sight. Something told her that Claire Redfield would not have appreciated a babysitter. Alice had chosen not to take a vehicle because Claire would've spotted someone tailing her from a mile away. So after her and Sam effectively disposed of the undead, Alice sat out to clear the third town before they got there. Not because she was concerned that Sam and Claire couldn't handle themselves, Alice just simply enjoyed exterminating zombies. After that, the blonde had taken her time getting back to campsite, she hadn't thought Claire would make another stop. It was pure luck that she had been within range to hear the gunshots. And 'in range' for Alice was a few mile radiuses. The blonde was fast, but hardly superhero fast. If Alice had to guess, she'd say she could do about eighty miles per hour. And she _did_ get tired when she went that fast for too long.

The redhead's features remained blank at Alice's short reply, seemingly not interested in the semantics of how Alice happened upon them at the radio station. Claire just nodded curtly and got in behind the wheel.

They drove back to the campsite in silence. Alice wasn't sure what to make of Claire's behaviour; she'd kissed her back after all. And even if Claire had felt accosted on some level, she should at least say something about it. Or perhaps the redhead was upset because of Sam's death. Alice was hoping it was the latter. She really wasn't in the mood for complications.

Silence had never been an issue for the shaggy blonde. She actually enjoyed the quiet. But then again, Alice had never experienced a silence with Claire Redfield before. She could practically feel the tension radiating from the redhead in waves, almost suffocating Alice in the confined cabin of the Hummer. She hadn't meant to succumb to her impulses and kiss Claire. But the way the redhead had looked at her almost perfectly reflected what Alice had been feeling in that moment.

…

Claire pulled up next to the food van back at the campsite and cut the engine. Finally 'home' she let her head fall onto her arms as they rested on the steering wheel and she started crying softly, wishing desperately that she was alone, but knowing she'd soon be surrounded by the entire Convoy assaulting her with question after question.

Breaking down in front of Alice seemed the least embarrassing of her options. At least Alice seemed to know when to be quiet and just let things go. Given this, she almost expected the woman to exit the vehicle and give her some space. But the blonde just sat there, listening to Claire's crying, saying nothing, offering no comfort.

It was a good thing too, because Claire wasn't in search of any comfort in that moment.

"I killed someone today." She said hoarsely, turning her teary blue eyes to an expressionless Alice who had already been watching her intently. "I've never killed a human before." Claire continued. "I've beaten a few up, shot a few too." She chuckled grimly.

They had encountered the odd hijacker here and pilferer there over the years.

"But I've never _killed_ anyone…" Claire averted her gaze and stared at the space between her and Alice. "It felt good." She admitted guiltily and sat up straighter, wiping her tears as she noticed Carlos, Otto and K-Mart walking toward the Hummer.

Claire hadn't expected it to feel so gratifying when she saw the gaping hole the shotgun had left in that woman's stomach. She'd tried to cling to her humanity all she could over the last five years, but when you've buried so many, seen so many eaten alive… killing someone for self-preservation hardly registered as an event in the violent world they lived in.

Claire had cried because she felt overwhelmingly guilty that in spite of her first murder and Sam's lifeless body in her trunk, all that really consumed her thoughts, was the fact that her and Alice had _kissed_ and how it felt like something she wanted to do again and again. In the short timeframe their lips had locked together, Claire had found a sort of _peace_ that she otherwise had thought herself incapable of experiencing.

But this was _the_ Alice. She had a history of bailing on her friends, of putting her own agenda against the undead first. And even if there wasn't the fear of Alice up and disappearing on her, what did she exactly want from the woman? It was only a fucking kiss for Christ's sake and it had managed to turn Claire Redfield into a confused, insecure little girl.

_This_ was why she avoided anyone who showed a romantic interest in her. Claire didn't have the energy or the time to sit around and deliberate on such seemingly inconsequential matters. Not like there was a particularly large pool of suitors to choose from in any case. People in the Convoy coupled up constantly like it was going out of fashion. She'd even had to perform a wedding ceremony the year before. But when things went bad, tensions were high and people got distracted by their emotions. And then they got _infected_.

Claire was responsible for these people, she couldn't afford to be distracted, even if Alice's kiss was unlike anything Claire had ever felt before.

"Thanks for finding me." Claire told the woman softly, before slipping out of the Hummer to greet her excited friends, not a trace of a tear visible on her lovely features.

….

Alice stood leaning against the back of Claire's Hummer contemplating the redhead's odd behaviour. It didn't take much to come to the conclusion that Claire had a lot on her plate and simply refused to add Alice onto it as well.

Earlier she had watched as Claire navigated very proficiently in between sorting the inventory they'd scavenged as well as arrange Sam's funeral, which was now coming to an end in spite of the late hour. People who had been close to him came up to the leader and she offered them comfort. Alice had watched Carlos and K-Mart try to do the same for Claire but the redhead just insisted that she was fine and went about her duties and the two set out to do the same, clearly used to Claire's stubbornness.

Alice felt around in the pocket of her duster and brandished a cigarette. She placed it between her lips, lighting it with her silver Zippo, and took a long, satiating drag. Sometimes there was nothing better than the comfort of the nicotine burning through her lungs, especially when things started getting a bit… _fragmented_.

In essence, Alice understood that smoking for her was a means of control more than anything else. She could lift the cigarette to her lips, inhale as much as she wanted. She could control the burning of her lungs and just blow out the rest. Even the routine of the simple action was comforting. Much like the sharpening of her blades and the organizing of her quarters.

She heard Claire's familiar footsteps approaching and smirked around the butt of her smoke as she heard those footsteps falter, most likely at spotting Alice. But they continued their normal pace soon after.

It wasn't like Alice had been waiting for the redhead there. She had felt in the way as all the Convoy members went around completing their duties, so she just walked out of sight and came to a stop by the yellow Hummer. She definitely wasn't waiting to see if Claire was okay after the rough day she had had.

Alice looked up when Claire halted in front of her and was internally surprised at the yearning look the redhead was directing at her lips. Alice removed the cigarette and Claire's eyes followed it dutifully to the blonde's side. Alice chuckled at the realization of what Claire was actually in the mood for.

"Seems like I've got something you want." Alice smirked at her.

Claire's eyes flew up and locked onto her own. Alice saw the debate going on behind those blue eyes as they glared daggers at her.

"What do you want?" Claire gritted out her offer, watching almost mortified as Alice lazily stomped out the cigarette butt.

The tall blonde stepped closer to the leader and leaned in so their faces were inches apart.

"You know what I want Red." Alice rasped seductively and took pleasure in Claire's increased heart rate.

Alice watched as Claire Redfield faltered and stared at only her lips this time. She saw the panic and the want, the confusion and despair and felt her heart give a painful thud that s_he_ was the cause of so much confliction in the woman. The redhead looked like she was being tortured and Alice had to swallow hard as she made her next decision.

She reached out and gently grasped Claire's hips whose breath hitched rather loudly at the contact.

"What do you want?" Claire breathed at her again, sounding anguished even though her body had subconsciously moved closer to Alice's.

Alice leaned down so her hand could reach its target, but on inadvertently getting closer to Claire's face, the younger woman closed her eyes and parted her lips, breathing unevenly through her mouth. It felt like a torturous eternity as Alice stood there fighting the desire to kiss Claire again. But she eventually managed to find the Hummer's keys in Claire's pants pocket and fished them out, the jingling causing the redhead to snap her eyes open and scowl at Alice.

Sensing Claire's confusion turn into anger, Alice quickly propped a cigarette between the redhead's lips and almost instantly brought a flame towards its tip. Claire closed her eyes as she inhaled slowly and let out a satisfied little whimper as she exhaled the smoke sharply through her nose.

"You're not getting my car." Claire smirked at Alice, taking another long drag, looking considerably more relaxed.

"I don't want your car; I just want to drive tomorrow. I get bored just sitting there." Alice explained with a lazy grin and watched Claire's face split into a relieved smile.

"Just tomorrow?" She queried slanting the smile slightly.

"Just tomorrow." Alice confirmed.

"Deal." Claire beamed at her. "Thanks." She said, lifting her hand to indicate the cigarette, took the keys from Alice and walked to her H2.

"Night Alice." She called over her shoulder.

"Night Red." Alice replied softly as she turned to go back to her campsite.

Claire Redfield didn't need a kiss that night to add to all her worries, all she had needed was a smoke, and Alice was happy that she had been the one to give it to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

**_So now we see how it is, this fist begets the spear_**

After watching Alice walk off, Claire made to get into the Hummer and was surprised to find K-Mart sitting in the backseat reading a red notebook by torchlight. The teenager had the set of spare keys to the H2, since it was technically her and Claire's house for all intents and purposes.

"Hey, I thought you were with Mikey?" Claire greeted her, remaining outside to finish her smoke.

"Slater was being an ass, didn't feel like being around him."

"What did he do?" Already bristling at just the mention of the man's name.

"Ugh, he was trying to 'cause shit the whole day while you were gone, and earlier he was trying to pin Sam's death on you too."

K-Mart scowled when she noticed guilt clouding over the redhead's features.

"Don't you dare feel guilty Claire." She scolded, but then grinned all of a sudden. "So what's going on between you and Alice huh?"

"Nothing." Claire answered very quickly and a little too defensively.

She had been caught off guard by the question and blushed. Then reddened even more when she realised she was blushing, even though there really _was_ nothing going on between her and the shaggy blonde. Yes they had kissed, and she would've probably kissed Alice again earlier, but it was just a physical attraction. Alice was a beautiful woman. It was a normal response.

"Yeah I can see that." K-Mart drawled grinning widely.

Claire killed her cigarette then felt for the keys she had slipped in her pocket and pulled out a packet of Marlboro's that had only two smokes missing instead. She frowned contemplatively at the carton and then couldn't help but smile at Alice's kind gesture.

Feeling a lot better after the day she had had, thanks a whole lot to a certain lanky blonde and her pickpocketing prowess, Claire slipped into the front seat and closed the door behind her, turning to K-Mart who was still watching her with avid attention.

"Mikey told me you sent Alice after me." Claire told her softly.

"Didn't really take that much convincing to be honest." K-Mart tried to shrug it off.

"Well thanks." Claire smiled at her fondly. "If you hadn't spoken to her…" Claire trailed off not sure if she should be telling the younger woman this, but she still wanted to express her gratitude for what K-Mart had done. The teenager had indirectly probably saved her life.

"Did you guys kiss?" K-Mart asked, wiggling her eyebrows and effectively changing the topic as she sensed Claire's discomfort.

She had not been expecting another blush to grace her fearless leader's gorgeous face. She can't remember _ever_ having seen Claire blush at all.

"Oh my god! You did!" She squealed. "Was it good? She looks like she can be a really good kisser!"

Claire's eyes widened at the girl and then narrowed in mock suspicion.

"You think about kissing Alice?" She asked and chuckled as their roles instantly became reversed and K-Mart sported and even brighter red glow.

"No!" The teenager exclaimed unconvincingly and pouted as she looked away, causing Claire to burst out laughing boisterously.

…

The next day found Alice at the wheel of the Hummer at the head of Claire Redfield's Convoy while the leader sat awkwardly at her side. Claire couldn't remember the last time she had been a passenger, let alone in her own car.

In spite of K-Mart's obvious crush on the older blonde, the young woman seemed determined to get Alice and Claire talking. Much to the redhead's increasing discomfort and embarrassment.

"Did you know Claire used to be a pilot?" K-Mart asked Alice as she casually leaned over the front seat in between the two women.

"No I didn't." Alice answered patiently like she had indulged all of K-Mart's prior questions and revelations.

Claire groaned internally at being the topic of discussion, pulled her cap down over eyes and sunk further into her seat.

"Yeah, she used to fly Choppers with her dad." K-Mart said proudly and Alice smiled at her enthusiasm.

"I prefer planes myself." Alice admitted and Claire peaked at her curiously from beneath the brim of her cap.

"You fly?" The redhead asked, lifting her cap and sitting up straighter as K-Mart subtly leaned back onto the backseat, looking pleased that she had finally managed to get a conversation started between the two.

"I used to." Alice stated with a sad smile. "My Cessna 310 got blown to bits along with the rest of Raccoon City." Alice's despondency gave way to a questioning gaze. "Your father owned Redfield's Rotor Tours?"

Claire's initial surprise at hearing Alice was a pilot changed to a more guarded look as she nodded uncomfortably.

"I never went on any of your tours, sorry." The shaggy blonde shrugged in such a nonchalant manner it instantly lessoned Claire's apprehension at the prospect of speaking about her family. "I think I saw an AW119 Ke Koala with your branding on it…" Alice trailed off contemplatively like she was trying to remember.

"Yes that was Dad's baby." Claire grinned at her. "Top speed of 166mph and a range of 618 miles." She stated proudly.

"And did _you_ have a baby?" Alice sent her a lazy grin.

Claire shrugged sheepishly.

"When Dad upgraded I inherited his Bell 206L-4, but I loved it even though it was a hand me down." She smiled glowingly.

"If you could fly any aircraft, what would it be?" Alice asked her, seemingly enjoying the topic as much as Claire was in spite of her initial uneasiness. The redhead was grateful that Alice was sticking to speaking about flying and not her family.

"An AH-64 Apache Longbow." Claire answered without having to think about it and Alice laughed at her response.

"An attack helicopter, _really_?" Alice grinned and Claire shrugged again.

"Would come in very handy post zombie apocalypse." Claire smirked. "I'm a practical girl."

"Duly noted." Alice said under her breath, staring at the road ahead a sly smile playing at her lips as Claire blushed and became uneasy again.

"What about you?" She asked the blonde, wanting to pretend Alice hadn't said anything, but also interested in knowing her answer.

"Piaggio P-180 Avanti." Alice answered immediately. "It has this strange wing at the front of the plane, a very odd design. But I like _different_. It's fuel efficient, can reach 458mph and has a range of 1700 miles." Alice kept her gaze ahead as Claire stared at her.

"Why that model?" The redhead asked and watched another sad smile cross Alice's stunning features.

"I wanted to fly around the world. There were so many places I wanted to see. Maybe take along a few friends… family…" The blonde frowned at how much she was revealing, and it wasn't lost on either of the Hummer's passengers that she had spoken in the past tense.

Claire drew a cigarette from her pocket and lit it, then leaned over slowly and placed it tentatively between Alice's lips before lighting one for herself.

"Once I kill all the undead with my Apache, you can take me and K on a trip around the world." Claire quipped uncharacteristically and was rewarded with both blonde's enthusiastic laughter at her statement. K-Mart immediately started listing places she wanted to go and Alice joined in enthusiastically.

Sometimes Claire wondered if those who had died were better off than the ones left behind, continually struggling to survive and mourning the loss of what the world used to be, and most likely won't ever be again.

…

A few days later the Convoy was scavenging a small town just East of Death Valley. Claire and Alice had become friends somewhat, given their love of flying and killing the undead. The redhead however, purposely withdrew each time a not entirely 'friendly' look was shared with the shaggy blonde. Unfortunately, given the fact that the kiss she had shared with Alice was almost all she could think about, those looks happened more often than not and put a definite cessation on their budding friendship.

Claire had allowed Alice to drive her hummer a few days more. She felt that the blonde asking for just one day, when it was clearly something she had wanted, was way too modest a request given what Claire had received in trade. And if the redhead was being entirely honest with herself, she felt guilty each and every time she snubbed Alice, when the woman did nothing more than _smile_ at her.

However, Alice's crooked smiles set Claire's tummy aflutter with butterflies, which instantly resulted in her giving Alice the cold shoulder for the following few hours until she had managed to regain control of herself again.

They had been lucky to find a few shops that hadn't been looted yet in the deserted outlying town. Only a few dead had been present and were swiftly taken care of by Alice before the rest of the Convoy could even think about assisting. They were busy packing everything into their reserves when Alice suddenly froze and dropped the few blankets she had been carrying.

Claire watched with increasing nervousness as the green of Alice's eyes almost completely disappeared as her pupils dilated and the blonde lifted her nose to subtly sniff at the air. Claire glanced at Carlos who was assisting Chase in filling the tanker with fuel, but whose eyes were trained on Alice as well. Claire cocked her head from him to the Convoy when their eyes met. Carlos nodded that he understood, and immediately started softly ordering everyone to pack up and get the Convoy ready to move.

Claire remained at Alice's side, her Glock drawn and safety off. Gunshots firing in the distance finally brought Alice back to them and she drew her Kukri blades and turned to run towards the gunfire without a word.

"Carlos get everyone ready, if you see any undead coming your way, _move out_!" Claire shouted already following after Alice. "Get in the Hummer K!" She instructed the teenager who looked anxiously at the two women running off on their own.

Alice had already disappeared from sight, and were it not for the loud shots echoing through the valley, Claire wouldn't have known which direction to go. She finally caught up with Alice, fighting with her guns drawn and blades sheathed once again, among twenty odd remaining undead and one gorgeous brunette with short dark hair.

Claire's shock at seeing the stranger brought her to a complete standstill and she watched as the woman and Alice fought side by side like they'd been doing it for years. Claire's stomach knotted uncomfortably at the glances Alice and the stranger exchanged, one almost distracting the other with their need to _look_.

It wasn't long till the firing stopped and the last undead fell. The stranger secured her weapon on the side of her thigh and Claire noticed another one holstered under her left arm. Alice's back was to the leader, so Claire wasn't sure what her expression was, but the brunette had gone from looking utterly relieved to palpably furious, in a matter of seconds and charged the blonde.

"You left us!" She screamed at Alice, swinging her fists at the blonde who just stood there and let the shorter woman hit her.

Claire frowned and tightened her grip on her gun, walking forward slowly, her puzzlement at Alice's lack of defending herself preventing any further action.

"_Why_ Alice?" The woman shouted again.

"It wasn't safe for me to be around you." Alice told her despondently.

"And you couldn't have said goodbye? _Explained_?" The stranger yelled, stopping her assault and just staring at Alice incredulously.

"I'm sorry. I've never been good at… I just didn't want to risk hurting you…" Alice very poorly expounded, her voice thick with emotion that Claire hadn't heard before.

The tall blonde's voice held a vulnerability that did not suit her and had Claire's hackles rising as she turned to the brunette that had caused it. But Claire saw that Alice's tone had a similar effect on the stranger, whose features softened and instantly she flung herself into Alice's waiting arms and _kissed_ her passionately.

Claire stared at the sudden change of events completely dumbfounded, until a distinct nausea set in as she watched Alice return the kiss fervently. The redhead lowered her gun dejectedly and holstered it as her eyes seemed stuck on the scene in front of her, causing a sweltering ache, to come to settle in Claire's constricting chest.

….

Alice had been elated to see her old friend and then felt the overwhelming guilt when the inevitable accusations and questions were fired at her. She hadn't expected the brunette to kiss her, they had been lovers in the few short months they had travelled together, and it had been the best way to deal with the stress of the initial spread of the infection after the Outbreak. Back then they had yet to become desensitized to the hordes of walking dead all around them. Back when seeing a rotting creature climb up against a wall and lash its three foot tongue at you had still been a novice experience.

Alice's nightmares had been very vivid and very frequent during that time, and she had only just escaped the horrors Dr Isaacs had inflicted on her during her captivity at the Detroit facility.

She pulled away from the kiss and immediately became aware of Claire's scent behind her. Alice turned around slowly and found Claire looking pale and nauseous. But as their eyes met, Claire's queasy expression fell away and striking blue orbs hardened almost instantly.

"Friend of yours?" Claire gritted out from a tightly clenched jaw with a raised eyebrow.

Alice was taken aback by the venom laced query. Was Claire jealous? For days now she'd been subtly rebuking any hint of an advancement Alice had made toward her. Frowning perplexedly, Alice turned to the brunette who took a step forward to stand next to her.

"Jill Valentine meet Claire Redfield." Alice introduced them warily.

Claire's glare shifted to Jill and it appeared to intensify in its iciness and that seemed to be the only greeting the brunette would receive. Alice didn't need to look at Jill to know that she would be returning the same cold stare out of pure compulsion.

"The Convoy is ready to move out. Will your _friend_ be joining us?" Claire asked seemingly losing some of her blatant detestation and settling on a look of controlled indifference.

Alice looked to Jill who seemed as puzzled as Alice was at what to do next.

"Could you give us a moment Claire? We'll join the Convoy shortly." Alice requested hesitantly.

Alice thought she noticed a flash of hurt tainting Claire's features but the redhead turned on her heel almost instantly.

"Ten minutes." She called over her shoulder. "Fucking enormous desert crawling with undead, yet they _still_ manage to find each other." Claire muttered under her breath, unaware that Alice was still able to hear her.

…..

That evening Alice sat pensively at her campsite, sharpening her blades and thinking over the long day she had had. When her and Jill had returned to the waiting Convoy, Carlos and L.J had taken up all of the brunette's time and noting Claire's reaction to her, Jill opted to drive with Carlos in his truck while Alice had sat in an awkward silence in the backseat of the Hummer.

Even K-Mart seemed to match Claire's passive aggressive hostility, leading Alice to believe that surely the redhead was jealous of the kiss she had shared with Jill. She smiled at the absurdity of it all and glanced over to where Jill was seated on a rock, around a square makeshift table, playing poker with Carlos, L.J and Slater.

As though she could feel Alice's eyes on her, Jill looked over her shoulder and smiled. She turned back to the men and excused herself and walked over to Alice's campsite and took a seat next to the blonde. Slater seemed especially irked at her departure and walked off clearly frustrated.

"Always so popular." Alice smiled at her.

"I never thought that_ I_ of all people would say this. But it's nice to be around this many people again." Jill said with clear disbelief that the words were actually leaving her mouth and Alice chuckled.

"Yeah I was pretty surprised too when I came across them. It was nice seeing Carlos and L.J again. I had hoped that you would be with them…" Alice trailed off and placed her blades and whetstone caringly on the ground. "… and Angie." She husked almost inaudibly as her eyes shifted to Jill's asking her a dozen unspoken questions all at once. "What happened?" Alice finally managed to whisper one, fearful of the answer, even more so after Jill's gaze moved away from her and toward the crackling fire.

"We ran out of anti-virus." Jill said quietly as her eyes glistened with unshed tears and Alice's stomach churned painfully as she realized what Jill then had to do; what Angie had most likely requested her to do to save her from becoming one of the undead.

Alice knew that her friend wouldn't cry though. The blonde slowly nodded a few times, swallowing thickly and stayed silent for a moment in memory of Angela Ashford, the little girl who had made her feel human again when all she had felt like was a monster.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Alice croaked out and Jill's arms were around her immediately.

Alice refused to cry, but she relished in the comfort the closeness provided nonetheless. It felt good to see Jill Valentine alive and well.

….

Claire stood glaring at Alice and Jill hugging by the fire and walked back to her Hummer. She hadn't realised just how much she liked Alice until Jill Valentine decided it was appropriate to make out with her amongst the bloodied corpses of a horde of dead undead, after _assaulting_ the blonde no less.

Claire paced along the side of her Hummer trying not to smoke, but eventually caved and lit a precious cigarette. She finally managed to relax somewhat, slumping against the driver's side door of the SUV. The redhead had enjoyed the last few days with Alice. They avoided speaking about their pasts and where they were when the Outbreak first became public knowledge. Things that were usually the first thing survivors discussed when they met each other. Instead, she and Alice spoke about their numerous interests. They had about as much in common as they didn't and it counted for hours of animated discussion on the long scorching desert road.

What had Claire even more upset was that before Jill had kissed Alice, she had been able to live in denial and could mostly ignore the nervous knotting in her stomach each time Alice smiled at her, as well as her almost unnatural physical response whenever some part of them managed to accidently brush against the other, or they stood too close together.

Claire sighed and got into the front of the Hummer to continue her little mental breakdown away from prying eyes. She stayed there for close to an hour until she was forced to pull herself together to go on her last rounds around the Convoy before curfew.

Claire had just stepped outside when she noticed K-Mart limping toward her. An instantaneous flood of panic had Claire slightly dizzy as she flew out of the vehicle and took in the teen's torn top and bleeding lip. A cut on K-Mart's brow had blood covering half of her face and tear stained cheeks and caused Claire's blood to freeze over in her veins.

"I'm okay Claire, c-calm down." K-Mart tried to reassure the frantic woman in a quivering voice between silent sobs, who guided her to sit in the trunk of the H2, where Claire could better assess her wounds.

Seeing that there were no serious visible injuries and that K-Mart didn't seem to need stitches, Claire mustered up the will to try and speak in a normal voice as she carefully tried to clean the cut above K-Mart's brow with a vigorously trembling hand.

"Wh-What-"Claire inhaled a shaky breath after her voice nearly cracked. "What happened K?" She whispered slowly and softly, subtly double checking the young blonde over for any damages she might have missed.

For some reason K-Mart seemed scared to tell her and it only managed to wrack Claire's nerves even further.

"P-Promise me you'll stay calm and listen to the whole s-story." K-Mart sniffed, seemingly trying to assemble the courage to recount the events that had led to her current tousled and battered state.

Claire nodded and watched the blonde girl expectantly, her eyes still occasionally darting between the two cuts marring K-Mart's lovely face and tried not to rest on the redness coming from around K-Mart's usually pale, slender throat.

"I was walking b-back from Mikey's." She inhaled sharply as a new tear slid down her cheek and Claire gently took her hand and pressed it reassuringly. "I-I wasn't paying attention." K-Mart shook her head. "And suddenly he just grabbed me out of nowhere and dragged m-me away from camp."

The tears were rolling freely now and Claire started growing dizzy again as all the possibilities of what may have happened, given K-Mart's torn clothes and injuries, assaulted her brain. Claire remained quiet as she gently rubbed her thumb over the back of K-Mart's hand trying to sooth the upset girl and herself. K-Mart was okay, she's right there and she's okay, Claire tried to reason as she swallowed down the bile rising in her throat.

"He had his hand over my m-mouth. He said he was n-nobody's fool and that he'll fucking show us not to m-mess with him." K-Mart's breath hitched as she tried to continue, stopping Claire when the redhead tried to pull her into a hug.

Claire had been straining to hear K-Mart over the sound of her own heart thumping in her chest and the blood pounding in her head. It felt like she was completely submerged under water.

"I kicked him in the balls," K-Mart said proudly and a lot more confidently, "and punched him in the throat like you t-taught me." She smiled. "And then I _ran_." K-Mart said feeling calmer now and Claire understood why the girl had implored her to first listen to the whole story.

Not that it changed the fact that one of the Convoy members had _attacked_ K-Mart.

"Who was it?" Claire asked in that same unsteady voice.

K-Mart visibly swallowed before she answered.

"Slater." She breathed and flinched when Claire's hand tightened in her own.

"Sorry." Claire apologised and leaned in to brush a strand of hair behind K-Mart's ear. "Did he-" Claire closed her eyes as the words got stuck in her throat. "Did he _touch_ you?" Claire breathed out feeling her entire body quivering with rage at the prospect.

K-Mart let go of her hand and crossed her arms protectively over her chest and averted her gaze and Claire's heart rate managed to escalate even more.

"Through my shirt." K-Mart muttered bitterly looking disgusted, frightened and angry all at once at the memory. "I stopped him before he could go any further." She continued and Claire wiped away the tears of relief that streamed down her own face.

"Let's get you to Betty." She told the young girl caringly, who allowed herself to be led to the ambulance.

Betty, for what it's worth, maintained a way better façade than Claire had as she looked K-Mart over, only briefly glancing questioningly at Claire whose face was void of any emotions as the leader stood guard at the ambulance door, blue eyes scanning over the campsite attentively.

"She'll be fine, doesn't need any stitches. She'll have to stay off that ankle as much as she can till it heals properly, but it's only a light sprain." Betty announced and Claire turned back to smile affectionately at K-Mart.

"Stay here with Betty okay? I'll be back soon." Claire spoke in an eerily calm voice that had even Betty looking at her oddly.

K-Mart made to object but held her tongue as she knew there would be nothing on this earth that would stop Claire from getting to Slater.

…..

Alice and Jill had been sitting and cleaning their weapons in a comfortable silence, when Alice looked up and frowned at the redhead stalking past them with a viciously indomitable look on her face.

"Thought the looks she gave _me_ were bad." Jill remarked dryly but Alice barely heard her as her eyes followed Claire's concentrated glare toward Slater sitting at the poker table again with Carlos and L.J flanking him on either side. Alice rose steadily, anticipating the impending altercation but her focus was briefly diverted by Betty and K-Mart's approach.

The shaggy blonde frowned as she rapidly took in K-Mart's bruised lip and the cut above her eye and she was quick to put two and two together as she glanced back in time to watch Claire ascend on the poker table.

The redhead didn't falter in her stride as she placed her right foot on the rock Jill had been sitting on earlier, the left went onto the table and then her right foot came up again and swiftly kicked Slater straight across his face, like his head was a football and she was aiming toward a field goal.

Slater went reeling backward in his seat and as soon as his back hit the ground, Claire was on him, fists bashing his face with unrestrained fury. Alice glanced back at K-Mart's wide terrified eyes and Betty's satisfied smirk then back at Claire who was screaming ferociously, as Carlos pulled her off Slater who great difficulty.

"Let me go!" Claire screamed. "I'm going to fucking kill him!"

Alice knew had Claire not been as upset as she was, she probably would've been able to find a way out of Carlos's grip, but the woman was_ livid_.

"He tried to –"Claire choked out furiously as she continued to struggle. "He attacked K!" She shouted kicking at Carlos whose face contorted in pain but kept his hold on the enraged Convoy leader.

Alice looked back at K-Mart who coward into Betty's arm, clearly overwhelmed by the turn of events.

"He tried to touch you inappropriately?" Alice asked the young blonde calmly. "K-Mart seemed to register Alice for the first time and nodded almost imperceptibly. "You're okay?" Alice asked tentatively, trying to control the tremble in her voice at finally fully understanding Claire's reaction.

K-Mart nodded again a bit more confidently.

"Get them out of here Jill." Alice instructed and offered the teenager a reassuring smile before turning toward the poker table where L.J was checking on the fallen Slater. A crowd had already formed at Claire's angry screaming.

Alice looked down at Slater's bloodied face and smirked at the damage Claire had done before she casually drew her Nite-Tac and fired a bullet straight into his head, causing L.J to yelp and jump back in surprise and loud gasps to sound from everyone who saw it.

Alice looked up at where Claire had gone quiet in Carlos's arms, staring wide eyed at Slater's body and walked over to them.

"She needs to take a walk and calm down." Alice told Carlos sternly. "I'll keep an eye on her. You clean up that mess." Alice instructed Carlos, cocking her head to Slater's body.

Carlos let go of Claire as he finally seemed to put together what was going on.

"Everyone's watching Red, go cool off." Alice told the redhead quietly who had kept on glaring at Slater as though she was thinking of ways to continue killing him.

But at Alice's mention of the Convoy, Claire summarily turned on her heel and stalked off into the night. Alice trailed a few steps behind her, trying to give the redhead as much space as she could.

After a couple of minutes walking on the edges of the Convoy's perimeter, they reached a small creek, and the obstacle seemed to make Claire finally stop her fast paced stalking. She headed straight towards a lone Joshua tree and anticipating what would happen next, Alice swiftly followed her and caught the already bruised fist heading toward the solid tree trunk.

Claire let out another frustrated cry at being denied her release.

"Hit me." Alice said seriously and Claire just glared at her angrily.

Alice slapped the redhead weakly across the face and it was enough to get Claire to flare up again and attack her. Frantically misplaced kicks and punches went flying at Alice. The blonde blocked most of them, but allowed a few to hit her so the redhead could find some sort of relief at least. Not that Claire was doing that much damage anyway. She showed none of the skill she had used in her fight with Slater. She seemed devoid of rational thought as she shouted and grunted with every feral strike.

At last Claire seemed spent, and Alice gently grabbed hold of her wrists and pulled Claire closer, who struggled half-heartedly till her forehead was resting between Alice's collarbones. Alice could feel Claire's eyelashes fluttering against her chest.

"He almost -" Claire's breath hitched and she started sobbing softly as Alice kept the gentle hold on her wrists, needing to touch some part of the redhead who seemed unwilling to lean in closer so Alice may comfort her properly. "He- He could've -" Claire shook her head vigorously, pressing her eyes shut tightly, trying not to think about what Slater intended on doing, and yet it was _all_ she could think about.

Claire allowed herself to cry for only a few more minutes, soaking the blonde's tank top with her tears, before she pulled away and Alice reluctantly released her. Claire wiped at her cheeks and then hard blue eyes locked onto the blonde.

"He was mad at _me_." Claire stated coldly. "He went after K 'cause _I_ embarrassed him." Alice took a step forward and Claire instantly took one back. "I'd been distracted the whole day by you and Jill." Claire admitted as the tears rolled down her cheeks again even though her voice was calm and steady. "I hadn't even noticed she was gone. I should've been known something was wrong; I should've been there to protect her."

"Clai-

- No Alice! I need to be focused on this Convoy's safety!" Claire shouted at her. "People trust me with their lives! I don't know what you want from me, but I _can't_ give it to you." Claire shook her head again. "I can't be distracted." She added softly and turned back into the direction of camp. "Just_…_ _please_… leave me alone." She whispered hoarsely as she started walking back, her shoulders slumped and her head hung low.

…

**A/N: So I'm not sure if I should put trigger warnings at the start of this chapter? I tried not to get into the particulars too much, and tried to focus more on Claire's response rather than K-Mart's unfortunate experience.**

**On a lighter note.**

**I know nothing about aircraft or weapons. I am a self-diagnosed Google Monster. I apologise profusely if I got anything wrong, please don't crucify me if you know better. I will correct any mistakes gladly, ****_should_**** you point them out politely. If you can't manage that, I'll just leave them up there so they may taunt you forever… Muhahahaha **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**_Don't let your eyes refuse to see, don't let your ears refuse to hear_**

Claire Redfield had not been able to sleep for the last three days and it was starting to show. Her movements were sluggish and dark shadows were clearly visible underneath bloodshot eyes. She'd taken to constantly wearing her sunglasses and casually leaning around camp observing her people, but mostly she watched K-Mart. And the bruises that were slowly fading on the girl's arms, neck and face.

The only time Claire felt even remotely at ease, were those occasions she knew K was spending with Alice. In accordance to Claire's emotionally charged request at wanting the shaggy blonde to leave her alone, Alice had managed to do just that and very effectively, much to the Convoy Leader's growing disappointment.

Claire missed their long discussions about aircraft, motorcycles and guns. They animatedly traded war stories on all they had encountered on the road over the years. They argued about many things, but it was all harmless banter. Claire missed the short naps she could take while Alice drove, the blonde being the only one ever to have made Claire feel safe enough to just nod off and actually sleep soundly.

Claire removed her sunglasses, hooking it onto her tank top as the daylight briskly started fading, but kept the bill of her cap low over her eyes as she continued to watch K-Mart and Alice laughing and joking around. The redhead seemed to be the only one who was experiencing any overt emotional backlash after that god-awful night she had seen K-Mart stumbling out of the darkness.

K-Mart was tougher than she had thought; the young blonde fought off her attacker and got away. But Claire seemed stuck in 'what if' land, obsessing over what if Slater had pulled a gun on her? What if Slater was a better fighter? What if she never taught K-Mart how to defend herself? What if Alice hadn't pulled the trigger? Would Claire have killed him in front of the entire convoy?

Yes she would've. Claire knew without a doubt that she would've found a way out of Carlos's grasp and killed Alexander Slater for what he had done and had attempted to do.

Alice had spoken about shooting the man once. Well, Carlos was speaking to Alice and Claire had been eavesdropping. Her second in command had asked Alice about her motivations for killing Slater.

"I'm a lab rat." Alice had stated earnestly and then grinned at the man's confusion. "I was engineered with the sole purpose of destroying _Monsters_. And I dunno if you've noticed Carlos, but there are humans in this world that are a lot more dangerous and ruthless than any of the undead that roam it now. At least with a zombie you know what to expect."

Claire had found her heart swelling with a mixture of emotions at Alice's declaration. She was glad for Alice's philosophy on what constituted a Monster. She didn't want K-Mart to see her bash a man's skull in with her fists. Claire had wanted to thank Alice for taking her for a walk, offering to quite literally be a punching bag, and providing her with a safe place to just lose control, away from the people who trusted her to remain cool and collected at all times.

Claire had wanted to thank Alice, but found that she just couldn't gather the courage to approach the blonde beauty. She was ashamed at how she had reacted toward the well-meaning woman.

And as time passed, it seemed almost too late to broach the topic again, as the Convoy had clearly moved on from the Slater incident as though nothing had ever happened. Even K-Mart and Alice unaffectedly continued their strange friendship that consisted of about fifty per cent sisterly affection, ten per cent hero worship, twenty per cent school girl crush and twenty per cent highly inappropriate flirting from the older blonde to purposely make K-Mart blush.

Claire was the only one that just couldn't seem to let it go. The leader spent countless hours anticipating every possible threat, but she had been naïve in not considering danger coming from _within_ her Convoy.

"So how long are you going to continue just staring at her for?"

Claire started internally, but managed to maintain her casual posture against the trunk of her Hummer, one foot propped against the tailgate and arms crossed over her chest.

"It's starting to get creepy." Jill added with undisguised amusement.

She mimicked Claire's position as the redhead ignored her and continued gazing toward Alice's campsite a few yards away, where her two favourite blondes were sorting through some coins they'd found earlier that day.

"You know the first time I met Alice was at Church." Jill smirked, continuing to talk even though Claire was blatantly ignoring her. "We were trapped in there with a few Lickers," Jill snorted, "those fuckers are fast and we were running out of ammo. But then Alice came flying through the glass mosaic on her motorcycle like a hot demonic angel and just starts taking them all out like it was _nothing_." Jill paused and looked to Claire who was still not indicating she was paying any attention. "I instantly hated her." Jill chuckled. "I mean, _I_ was the alpha bitch in town, and here comes this gorgeous woman who's fighting and shooting skills surpassed anyone I've _ever_ seen and I was a member of the _Special Tactics and Rescue Squad_ for fuck's sake." Jill huffed impishly. "Alice can be really intimidating when you see her fighting, and absolutely infuriating once you get to know her." Jill stated and Claire snorted her agreement involuntarily.

Jill only chuckled as the leader re-masked her features again and continued listening quietly.

"There are two things Alice and I have in common, and that we both love more than _anything_." Jill remained silently staring at Claire until the redhead unwillingly caved and looked at her expectantly, showing the brunette just how fixedly she'd been listening for the first time.

"We both love _sex_ and _violence_." Jill smirked as Claire's head snapped away from her again at the revelation.

Jill could see the blush creeping up Claire's neck and wondered if it was out of anger or embarrassment at what she was hearing.

"And with Alice and I, those two things aren't always mutually exclusive." Jill's smirk grew tenfold in its smugness and Claire's nails dug painfully into her upper arms.

She felt like punching Jill through the face or walking away from the brunette's clear baiting, but showing that she was getting to the redhead was something Claire Redfield just wasn't willing to give Jill the satisfaction of.

"Alice saved us many times. She was there, cool as a cucumber when everyone around us were dying and then coming back to life again. Most people would cry or sulk around, given all the shit I went through back then_. I_ on the other hand, choose to _fuck_ the pain away." Jill said in a surprisingly melancholic voice that had Claire glancing at her again.

"Alice and I are friends, well were as close as Alice allows people to get, you know?" Jill asked Claire, who nodded her agreement at the seriousness of Jill's tone. "She helped me deal with a lot of anger and I'm not even sure how she deals with hers, 'cause Alice seems to just become your saviour whether you want her to or not. I guess her need to protect us is how she deals with the shitty hand she's been dealt." Jill said thoughtfully like she was still trying to figure Alice out.

They fell into a contemplative silence, each woman lost in her own thoughts which were not so surprisingly, centred on a particular shaggy blonde.

"L.J told me something very interesting today." Jill continued coolly after a while, leaning back against the Hummer again and checking her nails over like they _hadn't_ just tried to delve into the morose after effects of the post-apocalyptic world on Alice's psyche. "Apparently Slater had no pulse_ before_ Alice shot him."

Claire's eyes widened and her arms dropped to her side as she turned her entire body to visibly give Jill her full attention.

"_I_ killed him?" She asked shakily, not sure what she was feeling at the news. It was a satisfying yet also nauseating thought that she had killed a man with her bare hands.

"Yeah, you kicked the living shit out of that sick fuck." Jill grinned at her, but Claire found it hard to be as blasé about the death of anyone, no matter how much she thought they deserved it.

Yes the Convoy unquestioningly followed her orders, but Claire still tried to lead with fairness. What would her people think of her if she just randomly chose who needed to die and who didn't without so much as an investigation into the matter. If all the survivors who felt wronged in some manner acted on impulse like Claire had done that night, there'd surely be chaos.

"Don't worry Redfield. Alice knew and had convinced L.J not to tell anyone, so they'd continue thinking it was her, and your precious little Convoy can keep on respecting you instead of fearing when your inner wild woman will rear her sexy head again."

"Alice knew he was dead already?" Claire pondered aloud as her mind continued to work overtime at all the different information Jill had bombarded her with over the last few minutes.

"Yip. I told you. Alice becomes what she needs to for those she cares about. She doesn't give a fuck what this Convoy thinks of her, but she knows that _you_ do. Since she can literally kill them with a hard look, nobody will or_ has_ for that matter, insisted on calling her out on her actions. Not like they would, these people love her, especially Mini Redfield over there." Jill chuckled. "So Alice went ahead and killed a dead man, just for you. If that's not a romantic gesture than I dunno what is." Jill shrugged, grinning shrewdly.

"How could she have possibly known? L.J didn't tell her, she didn't check herself, she just walked up to Slater and shot him."

Claire was still stuck on the technicalities, filing what Jill was implying in the back of her mind to be processed later on. Alice ushering her away from the crowd and helping her to blow off some steam was already enough of an undeserved kindness in Claire's eyes.

"Hate to break it to you, since you clearly hadn't received the memo, but Alice is a _superhuman_." Jill's voice dripped with unreserved sarcasm. "She could detect that his heart had stopped beating. It takes some concentration, but Alice can hear _very_ well. Much like she can hear this conversation right now." Jill chuckled as Claire's mask finally broke down completely and the redhead spun around to see Alice glaring dangerously at Jill who just continued laughing.

"If you pay close attention Redfield, you'll notice that Alice looks at me much like she does K-Mart." Jill paused and then frowned. "Well maybe not_ exactly_ the same way." She grinned even though Alice was glaring holes into her skull and quite literally had the ability to actually create factual holes if she so wished.

But Jill remained unaffected by Alice's intense glowering.

"I'm gonna give you some time to open your eyes and notice the difference when Alice looks at _you _and how she looks at the rest of us. Then you better stop fucking around with my friend's feelings Redfield, coz I _am_ the biggest and baddest bitch in this Convoy, and you don't want me pissed off at you." Jill warned icily, not a hint of amusement in her tone.

But Claire could barely feel aggravated by the woman as her gaze shifted to Alice again who looked just about ready to strangle the brunette.

Jill Valentine however, only mock saluted the shaggy blonde with a giant smirk plastered on her face and then promptly turned toward Carlos's truck and once she disappeared from sight, Alice's stare awkwardly came to rest on Claire. The redhead wasn't close enough to read Alice's eyes but the blonde's whole posture had slumped after Jill was out of glaring range. Alice said something to K-Mart and then walked off dejectedly into the desert night, leaving behind a confused looking teenager and an even more disjointed Claire.

….

Alice searched town after town, finding only small groups of undead, the killing of which served only to aggravate her more, rather than calm her like it usually does. Her mood only slightly lifted when she found a Honda X650R and spent the remainder of the darkness speeding along the sand dunes, flying through the air, and contemplating whether she should just ride off and forget about all the drama waiting for her back at the Convoy.

Alice yearned for her solitude again.

She couldn't believe Jill! Well Alice could actually. Jill Valentine was nothing but bluntly honest, and that was apparently _before_ the Outbreak. Now, the former S.T.A.R.S member seemed even less inclined to follow the rules of normal human behaviour, which included tiptoeing around people and _not _discussing other's blatant denial too their faces.

Alice huffed as she directed the bike back toward the Convoy as the sun started to turn the night sky a lighter shade of blue. It wasn't like she would bail on her friends again like she had before. _That _Alice had been confused and scared and she definitely wasn't _her_ anymore.

…..

Claire sat tensed and silent with K-Mart at her side as she lead her Convoy passed the scenic arid terrain of the Bryce Canyon National Park. She had stayed up most of the night waiting for Alice's return, fearing for some reason that the blonde had just left them without so much as a goodbye. It had only been in the early hours of the morning when Alice came back on an off road Honda, which she had found god knows where, seemingly able to get passed the Convoy perimeters without detection. It was only then that Claire finally managed to drift off, albeit to only a measly two hours of sleep.

And as though her insomnia and raging thoughts weren't enough of a distraction, Jill Valentine had decided to join Claire and K-Mart in the Hummer that day. The leader had said nothing as their uninvited guest made herself at home in the backseat. Claire could easily deduce that the only reason Jill was there with her, was because Alice wouldn't come and kill the brunette in front of K-Mart. Claire smiled at the idea of the biggest baddest bitch in the Convoy, hiding away in the backseat of her car, using a teenager as a shield.

Alice trailed the Hummer on her bike like she had that first day and much like that first day, Alice came up to the driver's side window, but instead of stopping, sped right past the SUV. The entire Convoy immediately tensed as Alice charged her motorcycle forward and Claire instinctually slowed everyone down. Alice jumped off her bike while it was still speeding, leaping into the air as she drew her blades and landed on her feet. She crouched down in a defensive position, as the bike went skidding across the pavement causing the redhead to wince her distaste at the seemingly unnecessary destruction. Two bikes and she hasn't even had a chance to get her hands on either of them.

Claire sighed and brought the Convoy to a stop and was hit with a strange sense of deja vu confirmed by a gigantic hammer-axe being swung at Alice. Only this day there were two of them attempting to play field hockey with the shaggy blonde. They reminded Claire of executioners at a hanging, or those manning a guillotine.

"What the fuck are those?" Jill breathed with wide eyes.

"No idea. We ran into one a few days ago just outside Salt Lake City. I dunno if the undead are mutating or what." Claire answered her.

"They look like experiments. Like Nemesis was." Jill thought aloud. "Well, and like Alice is too." She said distractedly moving to her door to open it but finding it locked.

"Haha Redfield. Remove the fucking child lock." She rolled her eyes at a frowning Claire who had no idea what she was talking about.

The redhead picked up her Mossberg and moved to go provide back up for Alice as well, but found that her door wouldn't budge either. Claire finally gave up on the door and remembered that her Convoy were most likely awaiting instruction. She gave them the same orders as always when they encountered undead on the road and still had the time to follow such protocol. She instructed the bus to get ready with an escape route and got the tanker out of the way. The rest of the men were all supposed to remain and fight.

"Carlos this is Claire, we seem to be… uh… _stuck_ in the Hummer." Claire told him feeling stupid at having to say the words out loud.

"This is Carlos, I seem to be having the same problem."

A scream from K-Mart had Claire's attention back on the two Axemen fighting Alice and one had hit her so hard, Claire was still able to catch Alice's impact into the reddish orange rocks a few yards away from the undead.

"This is L.J, I'm stuck too."

When Betty, Chase and Mikey reported the same technical difficulties, Claire spoke to Jill as she stared at Alice slowly getting up from the rocks, completely covered in blood and sand.

"She's keeping us locked in, isn't she?" Claire said angrily gritting her teeth.

What was it with this woman? Claire wondered. She'd been able to take care of herself and her Convoy for the last five years, without any help from an arrogant superhuman!

"It would appear so." Jill spoke as though she was unfazed by being trapped. "You said you saw one of these things a few days ago?" She asked the leader as all three women's eyes remained locked onto Alice as she continued her epic battle.

Claire nodded absently as she gripped onto her steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were entirely white. Alice looked so_ small_ against the two giant undead.

"You don't find that strange? Those experiments are just running around in Middle-of-Nowhere, Utah?" Jill frowned. "Has Alice said anything? Are we close to any facilities? Then again who knows how many secret facilities Umbrella has placed all around the world…"Jill muttered to herself.

And even though Claire was listening to every word, she couldn't focus on joining the S.T.A.R.S members' train of thought as she watched Alice grab hold of a large hammer-axe and angrily ripped it from its wielder. The blonde then held the handle of the ten foot weapon with both hands and swung at the unarmed Axeman's neck, severing his head from his body. But the heavy objects' momentum slowed the blonde down too much and the remaining undead's hammer-axe soon collided grotesquely with Alice's seemingly tiny frame, sending her slewing a few yards over the dusty road and effectively stifling the wild cheers that were audible from the rest of the Convoy vehicles.

Claire choked down her cry of terror as Alice stayed down and the Axeman started moving menacingly toward her. The leader frantically tried her door again and found only slight comfort in knowing that Alice couldn't be dead if her mental ability was still keeping them trapped inside.

And how much strain was it on her body to even do so? Claire had seen how weak Alice looked after she'd destroyed the crows. Was that the reason why the blonde was taking such a beating? Was she over-exerting herself trying to protect the Convoy and risking her own safety?

The redhead rolled down her window completely and turned her back to K-Mart and started kicking at the metal bars that had fortunately been designed to withstand more pressure from the outside, than from within. So on the ninth powerful, adrenaline filled kick; the bars went flying across the sandy desert.

Claire didn't hesitate as she grabbed her Mossberg and swiftly climbed out the window.

"Get behind the wheel K!" She instructed out of pure habit already running at the Axeman who had reached Alice and was lifting his weapon to crush the blonde still lying motionless on the ground.

Claire screamed in her panic as she stopped and fired at the giant brute and was relieved when the faceless creature turned to her instead. Claire kept on firing as the undead now started his slow yet long strides toward her. Holding her ground, Claire kept on firing but in spite of the large holes she created in the Axeman's torso and even its head, it kept on advancing on her.

She ran out of ammo and threw her shotgun to the side, drawing her Glock which proved even less effective. Claire could hear K-Mart screaming behind her for Claire to run, but where would she run to? She needed to keep that thing away from the Convoy _and_ Alice.

"Retreat!" Claire shouted back at the group as she ducked out of the way of a swinging axe, and moved to lead the undead away from her Convoy who for the first time in a long time, had the audacity to not follow a direct order from their leader.

Out the corner of her eye, Claire saw Jill shove K-Mart back into the SUV who seemed intent on following the brunette, but Jill seemed to be very persuasive as she eventually got the teenager to stay put and turned her weapons toward the Axeman as she came running to Claire's aid.

The leader couldn't believe the amount of ammo she'd already pumped into the undead when her Glock and spare, eventually ran empty. Jill who was way faster with her trigger finger and sported dual automatic weapons, ran out soon after.

"Get them out of here Jill!" Claire shouted at the brunette, ducking away from yet another swipe of the axe that cut so close she could feel the cool air over her scalp as the force of it parted her hair.

Jill nodded and the two of them started running in opposite directions, Claire, paradoxically thankful that the undead chose to follow her. She was distracted by a head of blonde being restrained by Jill and tripped over a rock and stumbled onto the hardened desert ground. Moments later the axe was coming at her again and Claire managed to roll away just as it made impact with the ground next to her, causing the earth to vibrate into her exhausted body.

A loud animalistic cry echoed through the rocky surfaces of the canyon and suddenly the Axeman's limbs were torn from its sockets by an invisible force, flying in opposite directions over the desert sand and almost simultaneously its head seemed to just spontaneously combust. Claire had to roll away again as the massive torso came crashing down toward her. But she had to cover too much ground and just as the undead's trunk was about to crush almost half of her, it was stopped in mid-air, giving Claire the chance to roll away and the dead undead crashed down next to her with a loud, unceremonious thud.

Claire sat up quickly, the adrenaline still surging through her body. She could hear Carlos had managed to finally get out of his truck and a few others were running to her as well. But her eyes locked onto Alice standing a few feet away, looking like she had done that first day Claire had seen her. Only now she was covered in blood and dirt caking the majority of her skin and clothes. The shaggy blonde sent Claire a relieved toothy grin when she saw the redhead getting to her feet, and then Alice's eyes rolled up into her head and she promptly collapsed onto the sand and into unconsciousness.

…

**A/N: Obviously I've changed most of the character's personalities, but I've changed Jill Valentine's the most. I'm not sure if it was the script or the actress, but she could've been so much…****_ more_**** in Apocalypse. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**_ I could hold you in my arms… I could hold on forever_**

Alice blinked her eyes open slowly trying to remember where she was. She seemed to be laying on a soft surface, which strangely felt like a bed, and her head rested on an actual pillow. Alice frowned as she briefly thought she was dead but after subtly sniffing at the air, she was met with the familiar scents of K-Mart and Claire mixed in with the wood of the log cabin she appeared to find herself in.

"You're awake." K-Mart whispered excitedly from a chair next to her and Alice turned to look at the young woman's relieved features. "Hi." She told Alice shyly.

"Hey." Alice grinned at her sitting up slowly, swinging her long legs off the bed and gratefully accepted the canteen of water being held out to her, swallowing the liquid down greedily.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I just woke up from a great night's sleep." Alice smirked. It was the truth. She felt better than she had _before_ she got pummelled. "How long have I been out?" She asked, her voice even gruffer than usual from lack of use.

Alice noticed the familiar head of red hair sticking from beneath a green ball cap where Claire sat in a chair to the back of the room. The brim of the cap covered her face and Alice could tell by her breathing that she was sleeping.

"Over two days." K-Mart's excited whispers made sense now as she clearly didn't want to wake Claire. "We found this old lodge here in the nature reserve and even some supplies in the large pantry. Everyone has a room and a_ bed_ Alice. And showers!" She shrieked and covered her mouth. "It's been _awesome_." K-Mart whispered again grinning widely. "Claire refused to move you while you recovered, you were pretty banged up. We've never stayed in one place _this_ long."

Alice noticed the clothes she had been wearing washed and neatly folded on the dresser next to the bed. She looked down at the clean tank top and sleep shorts she was currently wearing, over her completely healed skin, and noted with a faint blush that someone had washed the blood and dirt from her body.

K-Mart leaned in conspiratorially and lowered her voice even more.

"Claire gave you a sponge bath and barely left your side –

She was interrupted by the woman in question clearing her throat loudly. Alice watched Claire remove her cap and place it on her knee while she ran her hand through her hair a few times, her jaw clenching and unclenching in clear agitation.

- Uh… Well I gotta go see where Jill is." K-Mart said awkwardly. "Glad you're okay Alice." She genuinely grinned at the older woman, before mouthing a 'good luck' and slipping out the door, leaving Alice alone with a visibly fuming redhead.

Claire said nothing as she got up slowly and walked closer to Alice, the green ball cap staying behind on the chair the redhead had occupied. Claire's electric blue eyes held a distinctive frostiness that Alice could only interpret as the redhead being pissed off at the stunt she had pulled. Perhaps Claire didn't appreciate becoming a prisoner in her own car…

"Claire I –

Alice had started apologising instinctively, no one's glare had ever unnerved her as much as Claire's in that moment, but she stopped mid-sentence when two knees came to rest on either side of her hips, and Claire Redfield lithely propped herself onto Alice's lap.

Alice took hold of the redhead's hips mechanically and looked up questioningly into still very angry eyes that fluttered closed unexpectedly, before Claire leaned down and crashed their lips together.

…

Claire kissed Alice _savagely_. Yes she was relieved that the woman was okay but she was still so fucking angry at her. Jill's annotations about sex and violence rung through Claire's mind as she bit down onto Alice's lower lip eliciting a primal growl from the blonde that had Claire's hips bucking forward instinctually, in search of more friction.

Claire breathed sharply through her nose as she refused to break from the fierce way she was kissing Alice. She tangled her hand into short shaggy blonde hair and tugged roughly at it, manipulating Alice's head to deepen the kiss. Alice groaned gutturally at the way Claire was effectively manhandling her.

The redhead unabashedly rolled her hips into Alice's lap, grinding into Alice's lower abdomen as she took hold of each of the blonde woman's slender wrists and brought Alice's palms to her front. The redhead manoeuvred them underneath her top, lacing their fingers together. She glided their joint hands up the taut plateau of her abdomen and cupped her owned breasts with Alice's palms. Claire let out a contented moan at the contact, her nipples growing hard into Alice's touch. She finally released the blonde's lips, throwing her head back as she continued to grind against Alice's lanky frame.

The redhead let go of Alice's hands once Alice took over massaging her breasts and then reached down to unbutton her own hindering pants. Claire straightened her arching back and leaned forward to kiss Alice boorishly again, her body never ceasing its rhythmic rocking. She bit hard against the blonde's chin and nipped up her jawline. Claire then desperately clutched onto one of Alice's hands and slowly lowered it down her stomach.

"I want you inside of me."

Claire barely recognized her gruff voice as she all but growled her need into Alice's ear, causing the blonde to whimper back in answer. Claire didn't wait for the woman to respond any further as she shoved Alice's hand into her pants and rocked forward impetuously, when eager slender fingers slid through her slick moist folds.

Claire cried out at the contact and bit into Alice's neck, sucking hard on the tender skin, as the blonde hurriedly tugged Claire's pants lower, whilst rubbing her heated centre ardently.

"_Fuck me_ _Alice_." Claire groaned breathlessly, as she assaulted Alice's lips again and the blonde compliantly slipped two fingers inside of her.

Claire groaned loudly as she sucked Alice's tongue into her mouth, her rolling hips matching the aggressive pounding of Alice's fingers thrust for thrust. Claire's hips slammed down onto Alice's hand fervently, increasingly coating the blonde's dextrous digits in a warm wetness with each frantic plunge.

Claire took hold of Alice's head with both hands, snaking her fingers through blonde hair, as her body repeatedly grinded down and crashed forward roughly. The redhead's tongue danced around Alice's mouth as she increased her pace, senselessly striving toward her own release with wanton abandon.

Claire's body started rocking unevenly as her climax languidly yet forcefully started to build inside of her. She released Alice's lips and pressed her face into the blonde's neck. Her shallow, uneven, breaths and whimpers sucking in Alice's scent, pushed Claire ever closer toward the edge.

She let out a loud gravelly cry as her orgasm went crashing through her. Her body stiffened momentarily and then shuddered violently. Claire bit mindlessly into the tender space where Alice's shoulder and neck met, causing Alice to cry out too. She whimpered and sucked at the spot, as she lazily rolled her hips into the blonde woman's palm, whose hand was completely drenched at that point.

When Alice finally stilled inside of her, Claire allowed her body to fall limp against the blonde. Both women were breathing heavily, as Claire's walls continued to sensually clench and throb around the blonde's fingers as her entire body trembled uncontrollably. The redhead's heart was still pounding feverishly against her chest and she moaned softly when Alice finally and ever so gently, pulled out of her.

Claire fought the desire to snuggle into Alice's body, and after she managed to regain some of her composure, she sat upright again, blissfully dazed, so she could finally look at the blonde woman she had trapped between her thighs.

Claire frowned however, when Alice seemed intent on staring at the space on the bed to her side instead.

"Alice?" She queried, her frown deepening and watched the beautiful blonde swallow thickly before sparkling green eyes filled with undisguised hurt gazed up at her.

Claire's heart contracted painfully at Alice's wounded look. She questioningly tilted her head to the side, silently imploring the blonde to tell her what was wrong.

"I apologise for _disobeying_ you." Alice said bitterly, her gaze hardening onto Claire's. "I seemed to have forgotten my place as your guard dog and now apparent glorified sex toy." Alice gritted out and made to move Claire from her, but the redhead instinctively locked her still trembling thighs tightly and refused to budge, knowing that Alice could easily remove her, but counting on the fact that the blonde wouldn't risk hurting her to do so.

Claire stared wide eyed at the blonde woman who was so hurt at what had happened. Claire had thought that Alice would prefer them being together that way. Claire's brows knitted together as she thought through her own reasoning and trying to see things from Alice's point of view.

"You think I'm upset cause you locked me in my own car and ran off to face two giant axe wielding undead without my say so?" Claire asked with clear disbelief, purposely avoiding the sex toy comment for the time being. Her mind was still clouded by her orgasm and Claire could only focus on so much at a time.

Alice didn't answer her question, instead the blonde informed Claire of a decision.

"I think I'm ready to move on again. I'm not used to – this group thing just isn't for me." Alice spoke emotionlessly and her tone had Claire's heart rate sky rocketing again.

With a trembling hand she placed her fingers beneath Alice's chin and tilted it up, so those iridescent blue and green orbs could meet her gaze again. Claire swallowed hard at all the hurt and sadness she found reflecting there and she knew that it was her own misconceptions that had caused it.

"I didn't mean to make you feel used earlier." Claire spoke so softly her eyes burning intensely into Alice's, hoping to convey her remorse to the blonde. "I thought that you would prefer a more… _physical_ approach rather than deal with all these… _feelings_ that seem to be swimming around between us." Claire cocked her head to the side again and gently cupped Alice's cheeks and rubbed her thumbs over perfectly sculpted cheekbones. She allowed a digit to wander downward and gently slide over Alice's swollen and slightly bruised lips.

Claire hadn't meant to be so… _rough_. She hadn't meant to hurt the blonde at all. Though her need had been gloriously satisfied, as far as Claire picturing herself being intimate with Alice went, her fantasies had not been anywhere close to_ that_. The redhead thought that perhaps it had been a result of a combination of her anger and her unfortunate overthinking of Jill's taunting statements. And perhaps also the fact that Claire hadn't been with someone in a very_ very_ long time that had caused her to get things so completely wrong. But Alice had responded to her regardless… And it wasn't like the blonde tried to stop her at _any_ point…

"I wasn't angry that you locked me in a car and attacked the undead without my instruction. When it came to the undead have I ever not trusted you to deal with them as you saw fit?" Claire asked her, eyes rapidly searching Alice's who tried to look away but Claire's gentle touch kept their eyes locked in place. "I was angry with you for locking me in a car and forcing me to watch you almost _die_ trying to protect us." Claire nervously licked her lips and swallowed thickly as she remembered the events as clearly as though they had happened just a few moments ago. "You aren't a guard dog Alice. You are a part of this Convoy whether you want to be or not. We care about you here. _I _care about you _so much_." Claire whispered softly before gently brushing their lips together and allowing her hands to drop to her sides to allow Alice some time to respond.

The guilt was already festering in her stomach at her earlier forceful actions making her feel increasingly nauseous the more time she had to think about it.

The blonde's eyes had immediately flashed with panic at Claire's confession and were now trained blankly on the bed once again.

Claire remained seated in Alice's lap, feeling slightly reassured by their proximity and the fact that the blonde had not moved her yet. Claire worried her lip as her heart continued to rapidly thump against her chest as she wondered whether or not it had been a mistake to tell Alice she cared _that much_. Clearly it had also been a mistake to pretend that she _didn't_ care as well. Claire was mid panic attack when Alice finally decided to speak again.

"I don't remember much of my life before I became an Umbrella experiment." Alice stated softly shifting a tender glance toward Claire who relaxed somewhat at seeing the panic seemed to have left Alice's eyes. "I don't even know how to be human anymore. I don't remember what it's _supposed_ to feel like." She told Claire who bit into the inside of her cheek as she wanted to argue with Alice just how human she was, but she didn't want to interrupt the usually quiet woman when she was clearly attempting to open up. "I've been on my own for over four years, I was with Jill, Carlos, L.J and… Angie_,_ for only a few months before I had been forced to leave again." She sighed. "I'm not used to feeling this way Claire." Alice confessed more confidently, staring piercingly up into the redhead's eyes. "I'm not used to _wanting_ to be around people. I'm not used to caring about other's safety _this_ much." Alice's eyebrows knitted together reflectively. "It's been a long time since someone has cared about me." She admitted softly and awkwardly averted her gaze again.

Claire realised that Alice wasn't implying that her friends didn't care about her. Claire knew instinctively that Alice wasn't referring to _that_ sort of caring, just like Claire hadn't meant _that_ sort of caring when she had confessed her feelings to the blonde woman.

She reached out and cupped Alice's cheek and tilted her head to the front and kissed the blonde again. Claire had a million things to say to Alice's admission. But she had made a mistake in kissing her as the redhead's mind instantly went blank, and her mouth switched to autopilot.

"Please don't leave." She whispered nuzzling into Alice's neck and bringing their bodies intimately closer. Claire meticulously placed soft slow kisses all over the blonde's face and rested her forehead together, as her eyes fluttered closed. "Stay with me." She breathed tenderly, rubbing their noses together before finally locking their lips in a temperate kiss.

Whatever battle was raging on in the blonde would need time to be worked through, and all Claire needed was for Alice to take that time and remain with the Convoy as she did so.

….

Hearing Claire's soft pleas was all Alice needed in that moment. She kissed Claire back decisively, taking hold of the redhead's thighs, easily lifting them both and swiftly lowered Claire onto the bed, undressing them both hurriedly.

When they were completely naked, Alice groaned dizzily as her and Claire's bodies finally melted together in the way she had wanted them to for seemingly the longest time. In spite of her emotional perplexity at the way her and Claire had been together earlier on, Alice's body hadn't seem confused at all at the redhead's… _assertive_ seduction. It had reacted to Claire as though the blonde's initial doubts didn't even exist.

Proof of Alice's body's brazen response to the redhead became transparently obvious when Claire's thigh slid teasingly in between Alice's legs, causing the blonde to shudder at the contact and moan languidly at the pleasure it caused.

Alice was so very _wet_.

Claire grinned madly up at her lover and flipped them over till she was on top of Alice.

"Let me apologise for my mistake earlier?" The redhead requested with a smirk, as she kissed a trail of gentle open mouthed kisses, down Alice's neck and over her collarbones.

Claire continued down to Alice's breasts, cupping them fervently and sucking avidly on Alice's erect nipples, lazily swirling her tongue around them. The redhead felt the heat starting to pool in her belly again, as she devotedly listened to the sound of Alice's low sensual and naturally rasping, whimpers and moans echoing around her.

She reluctantly moved from Alice's enthralling breasts, kissing over the tight contours of her stomach, relishing in the slow quiver of Alice's muscles beneath her lips. Claire halted her ascent briefly to rest her warm mouth just above the apex of Alice's legs and lift a toned tanned thigh caringly over her shoulder, as she gently pressed against the other, to spread the blonde open wider.

Neither of them bothered to supress their loud cries of passion. They'd deal with whatever awkwardness that may follow later on. All that mattered to both women in that moment was that they express with their bodies those feeling their words could never fully express.

….

**A/N: Hmmm now that was kinda awkward. So much of sex… Who knew Claire Redfield could be such a Top. I feel inclined to apologise for almost a whole chapter of sexy times, but it was an integral part of the progression of their relationship and I'm hoping the timing seemed plausible.**

**Posted this update with chapter five so we can get on with the storyline next chapter.**

**Thank you for reading and those of you taking the time to review : - )**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**_When you came to me, with your bad dreams and your fears… _**

Having been out cold for two days and not requiring much sleep to begin with, Alice lay awake with Claire sleeping soundly in her arms, on the bed in the lodge she had yet to see. The blonde didn't dare leave Claire's side to check their new accommodations and subsequently risk the redhead's fury when she woke up alone.

Alice decided to trust Carlos to handle things in Claire's absence, and she also trusted that the redhead wouldn't have been there in her arms had the Convoy leader not seen to her people's safety first. Alice opted to rely on her senses to keep a proverbial eye on things, from her current agreeable position, trapped ever so willingly, underneath Claire's stunning body.

Sex with Claire had been so much more than she had expected. If Alice was honest with herself, it sort of terrified her that she had craved such intimacy with the redhead and felt hurt at Claire's attempt to give her what she thought Alice would be more comfortable with; what Alice had_ always _been more comfortable with.

If Alice allowed herself to probe further into her post-coital self-examination, she could admit that her life had fundamentally changed the moment she had clasped hands with Claire Redfield that very first day.

It would've been nothing to get back on her bike and drive off again. She'd convinced herself she stayed to spend time with Carlos and L.J and in hope that the Convoy would lure more undead to fall under her blades. But it was undoubtedly the presence of the stoical Convoy leader that had drawn Alice in, even though she hadn't quite understood the meaning of that _pull_ at the time.

In a perfect world, things would've only gotten better for Alice and Claire since their passionate consummation. In another life, Alice's happiness and contentment would've lasted for much longer than just the blissful daze that spanned a few hours. But as it was and as it probably repeatedly would remain to be, there were forces beyond the blonde's control, persisting in their need to destroy any semblance of a proper life Alice may even hint towards living.

There had been something that bothered Alice about the first seemingly random appearance of the Axeman outside of Salt Lake City. And then, even when they'd changed their route so many times, _two_ of the large undead had appeared in their path right in the back of beyond.

Alice frowned and her body tensed as she contemplated whether Umbrella had really found her and was somehow able to monitor her movements with the Convoy without her detecting them. If that was the case, she would need to leave again.

As if sensing her disconcerting thoughts, Claire adorably mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep and she snuggled just a little bit closer. She pressed her face into Alice's neck, which had clearly become one of Claire's preferred spots on the blonde's body. Alice tightened her hold on the redhead instinctively and released a long shaky breath.

How can she leave Claire now? If Umbrella had found a way to watch her without her knowledge, they must surely also know who she was close to. And that put a lot of people, especially Claire and K-Mart, in grave danger.

She wondered if leaving would solve anything, since Alice was still unsure whether she wasn't just going complete crazy or not. But those Axemen were new experiments, meaning that Umbrella was still up to their old tricks. And if Alice didn't try and stop them, who would? And who _could_ for that matter?

…

"Looking very relaxed Redfield." Jill smirked as Claire and Alice finally emerged from the lodge, joining her, Carlos, L.J, Betty and K-Mart around a small bonfire.

Claire rolled her eyes at the brunette but then grinned.

"Can't remember when last I slept that well."

Claire stretched her arms up into the air and rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tightness in her muscles. Every little ache reminded her of her time with Alice and she stared off into space for a moment as memories of the amazing night they'd spent together, clouded over her mind.

Carlos cleared his throat and Claire looked at him questioningly, then blushed as she noted the amused expressions on everyone's faces.

"Alice says there's something you want to discuss with me?" She ignored the looks and then narrowed her eyes at Jill and K-Mart sitting almost _too_ close together.

At Claire's question the young blonde seemed to gravitate impossibly closer to Jill and the redhead glared at the movement and then at the brunette whose eyes widened before a big smirk crossed her face. Jill wrapped an arm around K-Mart's shoulders and pulled her closer. The teenager reddened almost instantly as her cheek was firmly pressed against the side of Jill's breast.

"What the _fuck_ Jill?" Claire yelled indignantly jumping up to her feet again.

…..

Alice had been sitting off to the side cleaning her weapons quietly. She had already heard what all the debate was about. She doubted Claire would be very pleased and she wasn't quite sure how much the redhead would appreciate the opinion of others on the matter.

Alice shook her head at Jill, chuckling to herself. Whereas Alice enjoyed antagonizing people on occasion, Jill Valentine absolutely lived for it.

"Cut it out Jill." Alice called to her. "You're not helping your cause by pressing Red's buttons."

Jill released K-Mart with a devilish smirk.

"So now Redfield's buttons are off limits to the rest of us?" Jill pouted at Alice, and Claire's brows knitted together in confusion.

For an insane moment there she had actually thought they wanted to tell her that Jill and K-Mart were _together_. The two of them _had_ been spending a lot of time together while she was sick with worry at Alice's bedside.

Claire shuddered at the thought. Though K would be turning eighteen in a few months, Claire still had trouble seeing her as anything other than the scared thirteen year old girl she had found surviving in a department store.

"Okay _enough_." She spoke coolly. "Alice got me out of bed because she said that you guys wanted to discuss something _important_ with me. So let's get on with _that_ and save the jokes for later. It's almost time for curfew." Claire folded her arms across her chest and almost laughed at how they all looked like a bunch of chastised children.

Even Jill sat quietly and averted her gaze. When the redhead's eyes met Alice's the blonde winked at her and Claire smirked smugly before sitting down again.

"What's going on here Carlos?" She asked her second in command who looked very nervous as he held out his hand to K-Mart who then gave him the red notebook the teenager hadn't been seen without for the last few days, and passed it on to Claire.

"Why don't you read through this first?" Carlos suggested and looked to the others who all nodded that they agreed it was best Claire see for herself rather than just telling her. "We'll give you some space." He said, getting up and everyone rose with him. "For what it's worth, it's only us who know about this and we will keep it that way for as long as you want. But we all feel that it's worth a shot." He shrugged and offered her a weak smile before walking off.

"I wanted to tell you Claire." K-Mart started. "But things got a bit… _hectic _and I know you had a lot to deal with..." She trailed off not wanting to mention the Slater incident, the Alice-Jill complication and the Alice in a coma drama.

"I understand K." Claire smiled at her warmly and K-Mart visibly relaxed and grinned back. "Let me see what all the fuss is about huh?" Claire said holding up the notebook and the young blonde nodded eagerly before walking back to the lodge.

…

"Jill can we talk?" Alice asked the brunette rising from her seat as well and led Jill away from the fire to allow Claire some privacy.

"I swear I haven't touched her." Jill asserted, noting Alice's serious expression.

"What?" The blonde asked baffled.

"Uh… Nothing?" Jill answered causing Alice's frown to deepen.

"Jill, stay away from K-Mart 'cause I doubt I'd be able to stop Red from literally killing you." Alice warned then grinned amusedly at Jill's horrified expression.

"It's not like that, and you know it. I prefer my women a little more… _dark and damaged_." Jill sneered. "She just reminds me a lot of Angie, you know?"

"Yeah I know. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Lemme guess? Redfield's a squirter and it scares you a little?" Jill deadpanned, mirth sparkling in her eyes, causing Alice to chuckle and shake her head at her friend's antics.

She really had missed the woman's sense of humour.

"Can you be serious for a moment?" Alice grinned at her affectionately.

"I really don't want to. 'Cause I know what you wanna talk about." Jill looked at her seriously. "Those Napkin-head's seemed a little too conveniently placed didn't they?"

Alice's brows crashed together as she stared at Jill with a look of bewilderment.

"The Axemen," Jill rolled her eyes, "they look like someone nailed napkins –"Jill huffed, "_never mind_. It seemed like a trap didn't it?" She asked.

After her amusement faded away Alice became solemn once more and nodded slowly.

"It wasn't like we stumbled upon them by accident like we do the other undead. It smelled as though they had been waiting there for us… for _me_." Alice corrected. "I didn't scent any dissipating trails leading from anywhere. It's like they knew we were travelling on that road and when we'd be in that particular area. Like they just dropped from the sky or appeared from thin air."

Initially, Alice had locked everyone in the Convoy because she was concerned that while one of the Axemen kept her busy, the other would undoubtedly go where the fresh meat was. She had hoped that should that happen and Claire discovered they were stuck in the vehicles, she would order the Convoy's retreat. But oddly and very suspiciously, _both_ undead seemed hell-bent on chopping her to pieces.

"Maybe they'd been wandering around and just decided on sticking to one place for a while?" Jill shrugged not really looking like she believed that. "They _do_ seem to be getting smarter. I've even encountered a few standard ones that were able to run instead of just stumbling around mindlessly."

"Yeah I noticed that too." Alice conceded. "But they're not evolving Jill. They are entirely different undead. Their scents are different. Like Matt's…" Alice thought back to her battle for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "They seemed intent on killing _me_. They paid no attention to the rest of the Convoy like most undead would, driven by their hunger. It was only when Claire directly threatened them, that they deviated their attention." Alice elaborated and Jill nodded pensively.

"You think they were sent to take you out?"

"It seemed that way and if that's the case, Umbrella must know where I am and who I'm with." Alice said despondently.

"So why send undead, instead of an Umbrella strike team?" Jill wondered.

"I think they're still testing me. Like they did when they put Matt and I up against each other." Alice confessed. "They're analysing my abilities, gradually increasing the threat each time. I don't think they want me dead, they want me under their control, but considering what I did in Detroit, they may be a bit wary of rushing in guns blazing to capture me without knowing my full capabilities."

Jill nodded thoughtfully.

"We might be wrong about this. It could just be good old fashion paranoia setting in. It has been four years since you directly had anything to do with them." Jill smiled at her sadly, doubting that that was the case.

"If only." Alice sighed heavily.

She had considered too that the hot deserted sun was finally starting to get the best of her.

"Are you going to tell Redfield about this?" Jill asked tentatively.

Though Alice had been thinking about telling Claire since she woke from her semi coma, she still stiffened at Jill's query.

"I'm going to _have_ to tell her. My presence here has become a danger to all of you."

"Just don't disappear again Alice. These people count on her to stay strong when they can't. I'm not sure what it would do to her if you just up and left without a word."

Alice agreed with a resolute nod. Given how she had clearly hurt Jill and probably Angie as well, she wouldn't make such a selfish mistake again.

"I'm hoping that her need to protect the Convoy would help her to understand."

"I didn't mean that I think you should leave." Jill admitted. "Maybe that's what Umbrella wants? And what would happen to these people if they sent a few more of those Axemen and you're not here? Those things are almost impossible to kill. We'd run out of ammo before they even hint at going down." Alice huffed at Jill constantly jumping from one argument to another.

It was frustrating as hell and it all made sense.

"It's all just harmless speculation for now Alice." Jill told her. "I just think that you're better off telling Redfield what's going on now, rather than allowing her to go blind into a possible trap. That woman is _scary_ when she's pissed off. And that says a lot coming from _me_." Jill chuckled under her breath and Alice joined in too.

"Well I definitely can't tell her tonight. She's got a big decision to make." Alice said, her eyes shifting to Claire still raptly scanning the notebook that was handed to her.

"Do you think it's all true?" Jill asked referring to the notebooks contents.

Alice shrugged.

"Who knows…"

…

Alice finished her walk of the perimeter set up around the lodge and was surprised that the canyon seemed devoid of any undead for miles. They'd informed her that seven undead were discovered upon their arrival at the conveniently secluded lodge, but in the two days the Convoy had been situated there, no other threats had been detected.

Claire had placed three night watchmen around the building, all in radio contact with each other and another guard inside the lodge. Pleased that nothing would get through without being noticed, Alice went in search of the Convoy Leader who she had last seen over two hours ago.

Alice followed Claire's scent away from the building and towards the Hummer, where the redhead was leaning against the SUV's front grill and smoking. She could see the tension in Claire's shoulders as she approached her warily.

Only a few feet away, Claire stiffened as she felt Alice moving toward her, and at a speed that impressed even Alice, drew her Glock and spun around aiming it at the blonde's head.

Alice halted straightaway and lifted her hands in the air in a sign of surrender as a lazy grin spread across her face to try and relax the startled woman. Claire breathed out a long sigh and holstered her weapon again.

"Sorry." She mumbled, taking another long drag of her cigarette and resuming her previous position.

"No problem." Alice smiled moving to stand in front of the redhead. "I forget how quiet I am sometimes."

"Apparently not quiet enough." Claire smirked at her.

"Well I wasn't actually _trying_ to sneak up on you." Alice shrugged grinning back at her.

Claire chuckled but said nothing more and Alice knew that the possibility of a safe haven in Alaska was weighing heavily on the leaders thoughts if she so willingly let go of their easy banter.

"Do you think this is real?" Claire asked, killing her cigarette butt and motioning to the red notebook on the hood of the Hummer next to her precious baseball cap.

"I dunno Red." Alice answered honestly.

"Everyone seems to have already decided to go in search of this Arcadia which is apparently free of infection." Claire shook her head in disbelief. "Why would the infection not spread to Alaska? The state was populated as well."

"Carlos says the co-ordinates aren't close to any major cities or towns for that matter, it could be a new settlement?" Alice offered and Claire scowled at her.

"So you've boarded the crazy train as well?" She asked sounding more disappointed than angry.

"Whether you decide go to Alaska or Mexico or Russia, doesn't matter to me." Alice shrugged again.

Claire huffed angrily and shifted from the grill and started pacing in front of Alice.

"_They_ think it's real, but they want _me_ to lead them there. How can I when I have this foreboding sense that it's all bullshit? If I say no and we are attacked again in future, they'll wonder about this fucking Arcadia and if they would've been safer there. And if I do lead them there and we find nothing, or worse it's a trap like that fucking radio station, I would've failed them as well. Either way I'm screwed." She growled running her hand through her mass of red hair in evident frustration.

"And what if it's real?" Alice asked cautiously, causing Claire to stop her pacing and glare at her.

"These people don't need_ pipedreams_."

"Some hope wouldn't do any harm." Alice said softly.

In her gut she felt the exact same as Claire on the matter. But the others seemed to lack their scepticism. Well Jill did, but she was staying optimistic for K-Mart. Claire needs to at least consider the possibility of Arcadia being real and _then_ weigh up all her options or things will only get more stressful as she tries to battle the majority of her Convoy.

That said, a more irrational part of Alice may also be a lot more than slightly anxious about all the suspected Umbrella activity going on in the desert at the moment and that part of her wanted nothing more than to just get Claire out of their as soon as possible.

"I'm here to keep these people_ alive_, not feed them false hope. This Convoy trusts me with their lives! I have a responsibility to all of them, they trust me with the hard decisions they are all too scared to make. I play it safe and I keep it realistic and that's why the only time I've lost someone in the last 187 days, was when I had killed the bastard myself!" Claire told her angrily, but then her whole demeanour slumped as she leaned back dejectedly against the Hummer again. "And _Sam_… I lost Sam too." She whispered shaking her head miserably.

Claire looked back up at Alice with blue eyes sparkling with intense emotion.

"How can you possibly understand the responsibility that's been placed on me? You wander around like a leaf blowing in the breeze... I _know_ all of these people. I know their mother's and father's names, what they did for a living before the Outbreak. I know where they used to live, when their birthdays are, how many fucking cats and dogs they had. I know what they've lost and what they all went through to survive… This Convoy has become a _home_. These people are my _family_. I can't just lead them on such a long and dangerous journey based on some possibly insane person's ramblings in a fucking collage style diary." She said incredulously.

Alice wasn't hurt by the heated accusations coming from Claire. Alice honestly didn't know what it must feel like to be in the redhead's position, the ridiculous amount of pressure that was placed on Claire on a daily basis.

"You're right." She told the redhead. "But what are you going to do next? And what is this Convoy other than a bunch of leaves blowing in the breeze from town to town along a zombie infested wasteland?" She asked the redhead without a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Touché." Claire deflated instantly and smiled at her, all the anger seemingly leaving her body, but the frustration still very much evident.

"We'll run out of towns to loot soon." Claire admitted. "With such a lengthy drive I doubt we'll be able to gather enough supplies to even take us that far. And then there's the weather, well need climate appropriate clothes… I'll speak to the entire Convoy tomorrow morning. It's their lives and they should get to decide what they do with it next." Claire said resolutely. "It would've been nice to stay here a bit longer though." She smiled looking around wistfully.

Alice hummed her agreement and finally stepped closer into Claire's space. The redhead reflexively leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Alice's waist holding on tightly. And the tension in her body decreased considerably when Alice's arms wrapped tenderly around her an instant later.

…

"We have a decision to make." Claire spoke crouched on the back of Carlos's army truck the next morning, her entire Convoy gathered around her. "And it's too big, it's too important for me to make _for_ you." She briefly glanced at Alice standing to her left, quietly reassuring her. "There's a chance that there are other survivors... In Alaska." She breathed in sharply. "There is a _chance_…" She emphasized, "…that the infection hasn't reached that far. But we don't know for sure. So we have a choice. We stay as we are, or we try for Alaska." She looked at the forty men and women in front of her, already noting the excitement in their eyes. "For Alaska?" Claire asked and watched every hand in front of her rise with only the slightest hint of hesitation. "Alaska." She nodded and smiled at her people, offering an assurance she did not feel in the slightest.

…..

The group that had discussed the red notebook the previous evening all gathered in the living area of the lodge with the addition of Chase and Mikey. Not one for politics, Alice kept out of the arguments, staring out the window, vigilantly scanning the area for any undead, her mind focused on her conversation with Jill and the one she would still have to have with Claire.

Alice found it extremely unsettling that they hadn't been attacked for over three days. She could sense the rest of the Convoy members were on edge as well. The nerve-wracking anticipation of a possible attack, was almost worse than an actual attack itself.

"If we're gonna make this trip we're going to need to resupply." Carlos was saying.

"Yep." Chase agreed.

"The nearest and safest bet is here-" He pointed to the map spread open on the table.

- there's nothing, I've been there." Jill told him.

"Or here." He offered and they continued to circle options on the map.

Alice turned around wondering why Claire was so quiet, only to see the redhead staring pensively into space, sitting on a couch, absently playing with K-Mart's hair as the girl lay stretched out with her head in Claire's lap.

"Vegas." Claire spoke abruptly startling everyone and gaining their attention.

"Are you crazy?" Jill asked her.

Claire snorted derisively.

"Maybe." She conceded. "We've drained every small town dry over the last few months. If we're going to find gasoline and supplies to get us all the way to Alaska, and enough _if_ we need to get back again, then Vegas is our best option."

"She's right." Alice broke her silence as well and everyone who had moved to object closed their mouths shut instantly. "It's going to be dangerous." Alice told Claire softly.

"When has it _not_ been dangerous?" Claire smiled. "Plus we have our faithful guard dog to protect us." Claire smirked at her tauntingly. "And the stray cat we just can't seem to get rid of." She quipped turning her gaze to Jill who hissed at her facetiously, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Claire moved from under K-Mart to get up and address everyone once the laughter had died down.

"Let's see if we can enjoy the tranquil setting of the Bryce Canyon National Park for another night. Get the Convoy packed up though so we're ready to head out at the slightest sign of trouble. Make sure all the repairs done to the vehicle's armour are solid." She told Carlos. "Otherwise we leave first thing in the morning." Everyone nodded. "Well if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go try and enjoy my bed while I still can." Claire announced, sending Alice a meaningful look that made the blonde's stomach clench, before disappearing from the room.

The rest gathered all stared at the shaggy blonde with undisguised amusement.

"Uh…" Alice started knowing that every single one of them would know where she was going and what she was going to do when she left. "I'm gonna…" She cleared her throat uncomfortably as she scratched the back of her neck. "I'm gonna go clean my weapons." She muttered, scowling as she wondered why she even cared what they thought and had bothered saying anything in the first place as she turned to follow Claire.

"Oh is that what they're calling it these days?" K-Mart of all people shouted after her, causing the blush to spread further up Alice's neck and to her face and the entire room erupted with laughter again.

….

**A/N: To leave or not to leave, that is the question. This was a boring chapter to write, basically just serves as a set up for a bunch of things to follow.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**_But who really profits from the dying…_**

They were back on the road again, it would be just over a four hour trip to Las Vegas if they kept their speed. Alice was driving the yellow Hummer and Claire was sitting next to her looking more relaxed than she's been in a long time.

The blonde wondered if Claire was starting to believe in the possibility of Arcadia existing. The night they'd spent together may also have attributed to the usually tensed leaders peaceful mood. Alice had tried at various stages to explain her theory of Umbrella possibly monitoring her to Claire. But when she had entered the room the night before, after a very embarrassing exit from the living area, Claire had been waiting and had Alice firmly pressed up against the door right after it closed.

Needless to say, Alice didn't get an opportunity to express her concerns after that. Claire has amazing stamina and it wasn't until the early hours of the morning that the redhead finally collapsed against Alice's body for the final time and almost instantly drifted off to sleep.

Not that Alice was complaining of course.

Jill on the other hand, and correctly so, felt that the longer Alice waited, the worse Redfield's wrath would be. That is why she and K-Mart were driving with Carlos, so Alice may have the opportunity to talk in a setting where they would definitely not have sex in.

Alice smiled. She was almost tempted to prove Jill wrong.

"Were we… _loud_ last night?" Claire asked very seriously, worrying her bottom lip as she briefly looked to Alice and then glanced back out the passenger side window again.

Alice's grin grew tenfold.

"Why do you ask?" She cleared her throat and ineffectively attempted to wipe the smirk off her face.

Claire shrugged, still looking serious as ever like she was discussing an actual problem.

"A few guys came up to me and actually patted me on the back." She looked horrified and Alice couldn't keep her laughter from boiling over.

"I don't think we were _that_ loud." Alice tried to assuage Claire's discomfort.

"Do you think K heard us?" Claire frowned. "Is she uncomfortable with driving with us now?"

All amusement left Alice as she noted the genuine concern coming from Claire.

"I doubt she heard us Red." Alice answered honestly, though she couldn't be sure given how every one of her senses had been finely tuned to only focus on Claire. "And even if she had, you know K's a little creeper, it would take a lot to scare her off. Yeah she'll blush like crazy, 'cause she's a sweet kid, but she definitely understands the whole birds and the bees thing, and she's been wanting us to nest and pollinate for a while now." Alice realised that she was rambling and quickly glanced at Claire who predictably burst out laughing as soon as their eyes met.

"Nest and pollinate." Claire repeated grinning brightly, and stared back at Alice affectionately. "You're so weird Alice…" She trailed off. "Do you have a last name?"

"Abernathy." Alice answered, and the terseness of the reply wasn't lost on Claire who nodded and looked out the window again.

"My real name is Janus Prospero." Alice confessed, feeling bad that she'd ruined the playful mood.

"Oh." Claire's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Alice wasn't sure if it was at hearing her real name, or that Alice had actually told her about having a real name.

"Alice Abernathy was my alias when I worked security at the Hive, where the initial outbreak started." Alice explained hesitantly. "My partner Spence and I posed as a married couple…" Alice trailed off biting her lip as Claire's eyebrows disappeared under the brim of her cap. "It was just a charade. And he kinda turned out be a villainous douche." Alice continued and Claire nodded absently.

Alice could practically see the wheels turning in the redhead's mind. She wondered how much Carlos had told Claire about what happened at the Hive.

"I don't remember much of Janus's life." She added softly, trying to keep her eyes on the road. "But I'm also not exactly Alice Abernathy either, and I never was."

Claire nodded again.

"So now I'm just _Alice _I guess." She shrugged then took a deep breath. "I'm also known as _Project Alice_ by Umbrella." She started on the conversation she'd been meaning to have with Claire over the last two days. "They've spent a whole lot of time and money on…_ building _me." She drew in another big gulp of air. "And I'm starting to wonder if they aren't perhaps monitoring their investment at present." Alice added softly, chancing a glance over at Claire who was quietly staring out the window, effectively managing to hide her reaction from the blonde. Alice focused her senses and noted no increase in her heart rate or breathing at the revelation.

"I suspect that those Axemen may have been placed as a trap to assess my skill level and that Umbrella may be gearing up to attack and detain me so they can find a way to get me back under their control, so I may become the weapon they always intended me to be." Alice finished and then waited patiently for Claire's response.

A few agonizingly long minutes passed before Claire reached out and took a hold of her hand and squeezed lightly.

"Are you a threat to this Convoy?" Claire asked her in a gentle tone so unlike the first time she had asked Alice that question.

Alice nodded grimly when she felt the redhead's stare burning into the side of her head.

"I don't think you are." Claire murmured softly still holding onto Alice's hand. "_Umbrella_ is the threat and so are the undead." She said confidently. "You are a part of this Convoy now Alice. And we protect our own. If they're coming for you, we'll do everything we can to stop them. And I'm sure everyone else will agree with me on that."

Alice swallowed thickly, she believed that Claire meant every word, but she doubted the rest of the Convoy were as brave as Claire Redfield. Not that she'd ever allow any of them to risk their lives for her in the first place.

"It would be safer if I –

- let's speak about this after Vegas." Claire cut her off hoarsely as she squeezed Alice's hand tighter.

….

The rest of the journey to Las Vegas was spent in a thick silence pregnant with morbidity and tension. Claire maintained her hold on Alice's hand throughout that time, trying to convey so many things as an ridiculous part of her feared that Alice would run off the minute she let go.

Claire Redfield had managed to keep so many people alive because she was a smart woman, and though she may lack the intuition when it came to reading human emotions, Claire was a great assessor of her environment. She noticed when things were _off_ and was able to come up with a tactical solution within seconds of a threat arising.

Claire was very much aware of the peculiarity of the Axemen attacks. How they seemed the only undead not attracted to the busload of flesh she was protecting. Jill's observations had only managed to create more questions in her mind.

The leader tried to convince herself that it may still just be a coincidence, but was she willing to risk the Convoy's lives on that? And why was Alice's life suddenly worth less than theirs? It wasn't. Just because Alice acted as though she could take care of herself and she had a few abilities to help her, didn't mean that she was invincible. Just three days ago the woman had almost been turned into mush by a giant meat tenderizer, had Claire not managed to escape the Hummer and provide enough of a distraction for Alice to regain some of her strength again. And then Alice was unconscious for _two_ days. If she were to fight off an attack with her psionic ability and then pass out, what would prevent Umbrella from just swooping in and taking her prisoner again? And why hadn't they attacked the Convoy during Alice's convalescence?

_No_. Alice wasn't going anywhere, Claire decided. The blonde has protected this Convoy and now it was the Convoy's turn to protect her right back.

"Pull over right here." Claire said softly, still affected by the morbid mood in the car.

As Alice halted the SUV, Claire leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, gave her hand a final squeeze and exited the vehicle.

The leader went to the trunk of the car and retrieved a pair of binoculars and went to stand at the end of the ridge they were parked on to take a look at what used to be Las Vegas and was now covered in about fifteen feet of yellow sand.

"Desert must've taken it back." Carlos said walking toward the redhead with his own pair of binoculars.

"Five years, no one to keep the sand back." Claire nodded and turned to Alice who was leaning dejectedly against the passenger side door, hands stuffed in the pockets of her duster.

Claire hated seeing her like that, but she understood the battle raging within the shaggy blonde. Alice would never forgive herself if anything happened to anyone in this Convoy because of her.

"Do you sense anything?" Claire asked her.

Alice only nodded.

"Do you know how many?" Claire smiled, doubting it would be as easy as that.

Her blatant grasping at straws was rewarded with a little smirk from Alice.

"You know it doesn't work like that Red."

Claire smirked at her and shrugged. "Just thought I'd ask again."

"Okay people." Claire shouted loudly at everyone who stood gathered outside the vehicles staring at the sand covered city. "Myself, Alice, Carlos, Jill and L.J will go and secure the city. The rest of you will stay with the bus. Betty you're in charge, anything comes your way you _leave_." She told the paramedic earnestly who nodded that she understood. "Chase, Otto, Adam and Mikey you're on guard, follow me." Claire instructed walking over to Carlos's Reo.

She jumped up and started handing out weapons. She gave Chase a sniper rifle and a pair of binoculars. "I want you on the roof of the bus scanning the area. Leave the tanker if you must." She told him and turned to Betty. "I'll try and stay within radio contact, but if we're not back in three hours you_ leave_, if we survive we'll come find you."

She watched the group go set up at the bus and noticed Jill and K-Mart talking. Claire knew the young blonde well enough to know that she was either trying to persuade Jill to convince Claire to let her go with them, or for the entire Convoy to go together.

Their remaining time with the Convoy was spent gearing themselves up for the impending battle. Claire watched in fascination as Alice holstered two Nite-Tacs on either thigh, two Mossberg 590 Compact Cruisers on her back, her twin Kukri blades were sheathed at behind her waist, and in her hands she stood armed with a Winchester Model 1300 shotgun, hanging teasingly in front of Alice's tiny olive coloured shorts. She was a walking armoury and Claire struggled to remember seeing anything sexier in her life.

"You sure you're gonna be able to focus with Superwoman at your side Redfield?" Jill smirked at her side startling Claire back to reality.

The redhead ignored the remark, much like Claire chose to ignore most of the brunette's blunt yet truthful comments, opting to hand Jill some ammo instead.

"You need to go speak to K." Jill murmured. "I'll finish getting everyone geared up." She offered awkwardly causing Claire to smile at her genuinely.

"Thanks Jill."

…..

After a long debate regarding which vehicle to take along with the Hummer, or to leave the Hummer and just take the army truck so everyone and their weapons could fit, the eerily silent Alice leapt onto the roof of the SUV and took up point there. With that seating issue settled, Claire took her place behind the wheel, Jill next to her, with Carlos and L.J at the back.

They drove slowly across the sandy streets of what used to be the popular Vegas strip, in awe of how dull and decrepit it had become given the former glory of the city. But Claire soon slowed as they spotted a large shipping container blocking any further approach en route to scout the alleged gas station at the casino L.J had mentioned.

"Trap?" Claire asked Jill stopping the Hummer.

"Trap." Jill nodded.

"Definitely a trap." Alice suddenly spoke through the bars of driver's side window causing everyone in the Hummer to jump in surprise.

The blonde offered them a lazy grin. "Sorry." She murmured, not looking sorry at all.

"Guess you _can_ be really quiet." Claire smirked at her, not realizing how much she had wanted Alice to smile like that since their gloomy conversation en route to Las Vegas.

"About forty people sharing the lodge with you two would beg to differ." Jill smirked, causing Carlos and L.J to burst out laughing.

"Anyway _children_." Claire remarked rolling her eyes. "What are we going to do about that free standing container in the middle of nowhere, seemingly untouched by the fifteen feet of sand the rest of the City has been covered with?" She asked sarcastically.

"Let's blow it up." L.J said excitedly showing off two hand grenades with pride.

Claire turned to Alice.

"Just to be sure, you _do_ sense them in there right?" She double checked.

"Yip. Give the grenades, I'm fast enough to open it up, deposit our present and then make it out of range in time." Alice offered confidently and Claire frowned.

Alice was doing it again. Playing hero. But it did seem to be the best way to avoid excessive gunfire and possible casualties. But that was only if Alice could pull it off.

"Trust me Red." Alice whispered softly through the repaired bars of the driver's side window.

Claire was equal parts glad and dismayed that they were blocking her from grabbing a handful of shaggy blonde hair and pulling Alice down onto her lips for a hard kiss.

"'Kay, let's pull back a bit." She said nodding to Alice who took a step back as Claire reversed away from any probable blast radius from the container.

They exited the car and L.J handed over the grenades.

"There might be some debris flying all over the place, perhaps you should take cover in between those buildings." Alice suggested.

Everyone easily agreed with her logic but Claire still felt somewhat apprehensive at the plan. Something was just screaming at her that the container wasn't all she needed to worry about. This was clearly a trap, but where were the ones who had laid it for them? Just because no one showed after the Axemen attacks doesn't mean that would always be the case. She was interrupted from her musings by a pair of lips softly pressing on her own.

"For luck." Alice grinned at her causing Claire to smile back dreamily as she watched the blonde run toward the container, scaling the almost eight foot shipping container effortlessly and landing with the grace and stealth of a cat.

Given how heavily armed Alice was, Claire had been expecting a loud bang when she hit the roof.

Without any doubt or further contemplation, Alice ripped the keys out of the grenades, slightly opened the front of the container, threw them inside and leapt through the air to take cover.

Carlos had to grab Claire into the small alley where she still stood watching Alice's graceful movements. She had just made it out of sight when two explosions were heard in rapid concession, and the unmistakable sound of metal hitting metal and brick and glass, followed soon after.

Claire drew her Glock and moved to see pieces of burning undead and debris lying all over the yellow sand where the container once stood, and in the middle of it all was Alice, blades drawn, extended at either side, unmoving, staring vacantly ahead of her.

Before Claire could move toward her the familiar loud groans and moans of a horde of undead was heard coming from the alley where Jill and the guys stood. They instantly started firing at the forty odd zombies. Claire joined them but was distracted by Alice just standing there not moving and she looked on in horror as about ten more undead crept from the shadows behind the blonde.

"There's something wrong with Alice!" She shouted at the rest of the team as she started running toward the blonde, firing at the throng, placing herself between them and Alice's frozen body.

….

Alice was still very much aware of everything going on around her, but for some reason her body just wasn't responding. She heard every shot and every shout. She could sense Claire at her back, hear the redhead's frantic heartbeat. She could scent the undead that were attacking every one she cared about. Undead she hadn't detected before.

But no matter how hard she tried, Alice just couldn't move. She had absolutely no control over her motor functions. Claire appeared in front of her again clearly having disposed of the undead behind her, screaming Alice's name, staring at her with wide terrified blue eyes.

Then Alice felt the unmistakeable tug of her Kukri blades starting toward Claire, and it took every ounce of her willpower to fight against whatever source was compelling her to run her blades straight through the woman in front of her.

Behind the redhead Alice heard Jill screaming as Carlos was overpowered by three undead. Claire acted immediately, running back to the group, her anguished cries as she watched Carlos being bitten, ripped painfully through Alice's immobile body.

She had to _move_. She had to regain control. Alice knew Umbrella was behind this. She knew that they had to have implanted her with some sort of device that would both track and control her. Her mind worked fast as she turned her senses inward, nearly becoming overwhelmed by the loud rapid pounding of her heart. Even the blood rushing through her body, sounded similar to the rumbling of a waterfall.

Given that it was a control device, Alice started her search in her head. Since her sight was useless to her in that moment, she focused on feeling and listening for anything out of the ordinary. Soon the sound of a faint electromagnetic pulse, most probably emanating from a microchip implanted in her brain, caught her attention. Alice focused her psionic ability on its destruction and was instantly overcome with an agonizing migraine that had her falling to her knees with its intensity.

She was on her knees!

Alice realised she had control again when she found her hands holding her head and her blades on the sand next to her. She grabbed them, and in spite of the painful throbbing still pulsing in her brain, she surged forward to help her friends.

….

Claire was stunned when Alice came bounding past them blades swinging like they were actual extensions of her arms. The blonde cut through the remaining undead with a savage ease, the rage emanating from her striking green eyes was almost palpable.

When the last undead fell, Claire watched Alice frantically scanning the area until she caught sight of something at a nearby building. She followed Alice's gaze upward and noticed the tip of what looked like a white tent on the rooftop.

Claire turned back to the blonde, but found Alice already running toward the structure. Alice bounded onto a ledge against the building, scaling the structure with a meticulous and effortless show of agility.

Claire's legs moved of their own accord, running toward the building as well. She chose to enter and not scale it like her Superwoman, and started her ascent up the twelve floors toward the roof where she could hear gunshots being fired already.

…..

Alice leapt onto the rooftop, drawing her two Nite-Tacs mid-air and started firing at the Umbrella staff she knew she would find in the tent.

What she hadn't expected was to see Dr Sam Isaacs, the focal point of so many of her nightmares there among them. He started running to the helicopter that stood poised on the rooftop as Alice opened fire on him. She could see the bullets entering his body, but the doctor wasn't going down.

She stared dumbfounded at the helicopter as it flew off.

_He was infected._

The thought barely had time to digest when two shots were heard in the stairwell and the door to the rooftop came flying off its hinges and out stepped Claire Redfield, Glock drawn, eyes rapidly scanning the area for any sign of a threat.

She noticed Alice's lowered weapon and relaxed somewhat, walking closer to the blonde as she eyed the set up in the tent warily.

"You okay?" Claire asked as her eyes shifted back to the blonde, scanning over her body for injury.

Alice swallowed thickly and nodded, averting her gaze guiltily and headed for the controls in the tent. Claire's eyes narrowed at the reaction, but followed nonetheless.

"Umbrella?" She asked and Alice nodded in response, her fingers flying rapidly over the keys of the open laptop.

She was very familiar with Umbrella's operating system and knew they had little time before the helicopter made it back to the facility, which she quickly found the nearest to be located right there in the Nevada desert, and remotely shut down her access.

She brought up some blue prints and a few satellite photos of what appeared to be a weather station. A small wooden structure stood in the middle of a large square plot. A massive satellite dish was next to it and to its left were two distinct H's.

"That's a facility?"

Alice hummed again and Claire was starting to become annoyed with the blonde but bit her tongue, there was too much going on at the moment to start arguing.

"Two helipads, two helicopters." Alice murmured thoughtfully.

She grabbed a pen and started writing down the co-ordinates to the facility and then got up to face Claire.

"Maybe we could fly to Alaska?"

…

**A/N: Sooooo if movie Alice could use her powers to destroy Umbrella's control device on a SATELITE ORBITING EARTH, my Alice can sure as hell do it within the close proximity of her brain, no matter how absurdly insane it sounds. ;-P**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**_Love is a poor man's food, don't prophesize_**

Claire Redfield wasn't used to not getting answers, but for some reason she was prepared to give Alice the time to explain to her what the hell had happened earlier when she completely froze up when it mattered most. Claire knew it had something to do with Umbrella of course, but what exactly did they do to her? And would they be able to do it again?

They were still on the rooftop and Alice seemed barely able to look her in the eye.

"We need to get down there." Claire stated, putting on her leader voice. There was a lot that they needed to get done. "Is the area clear?" She asked Alice.

The woman nodded and then lifted a remorseful green gaze to look Claire square in the eye.

"They were too high up, I didn't sense them immediately. The stench of undead threw me off." She explained gritting her teeth.

"This wasn't your fault." Claire frowned at her.

"They put something in my head to control me." Alice whispered. "And I think that's how they managed to track me as well."

"How'd you manage to…" Claire trailed off.

"I destroyed the chip, using my telekinesis."

Claire's eyes widened and then her brows knitted in confusion, she then apparently gave up on trying to figure out how exactly Alice was able to do that.

"So the chip is gone and they can't track or control you anymore?" Claire decided to stick to the basics rather.

"I think so. I didn't sense anything else that was… _strange_ in my body." Alice answered.

"Good." Claire smiled genuinely at her.

At least she didn't have to worry about _that_ any longer. Alice would be able to stay with the Convoy without indirectly being a threat.

"They almost…" Alice started then swallowed hard again her eyes scanning Claire's face emphatically. "They almost made me kill you." She admitted guilty.

"But you didn't." Claire said not able to fathom Alice's guilt over something that didn't happen.

"But if I wasn't- then Carlos would –

- Stop it!" Claire shouted at her. "Stop fucking apologising for things you had _no_ control over. It changes _nothing_, it makes you feel like shit and I sure as hell don't need to be hearing about it, because there's a lot I have to go deal with down there right now. You did _nothing_ wrong. It's _done_. It happened, and this Convoy will move on from it like we always do!"

Claire was just starting to feel bad about her stress-induced rant but almost smiled when she saw Alice straightening her back and squaring her shoulders. The shaggy blonde nodded her acceptance of the leaders argument bent down and scooped Claire up into her arms bridal style.

Claire shrieked like a little girl and flung her arms around Alice's neck, Glock still firmly in her right hand.

"Well let's get you down there then." Alice said purposefully, before running towards the edge of the building and leaping into the air. She landed softly on the roof below running across it and continued their descent in the same manner, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until finally she traversed the last one, jumping about twenty feet down onto the soft desert sand.

Claire was almost giddy with excitement when Alice finally put her down, it had been the closest to flying she's been in years. But one look at Jill and L.J standing over Carlos's body had her mood plummeting instantly. She walked over to her two comrades as fast as she could.

"He's still alive." Jill whispered despondently. "Was that a Chopper I heard?"

"Yeah. Tell you about it later." Claire told the brunette, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Why don't you guys go get the rest of the Convoy? I'll… I'll take care of Carlos." Claire's voice almost broke as she said the words.

Jill's eyes flew up to meet hers and all Claire saw was respect and gratitude. She had heard about what Jill had been forced to do when first her S.T.A.R.S partner, Peyton Wells was infected and then when Angela Ashford ran out of anti-virus. Having to execute yet another person she was so close to would probably destroy the feisty brunette for good.

"Maybe Betty will be in time." L.J muttered and rushed off as if suddenly snapping out of a trance and realising the urgency.

Claire could see the large amount of blood Carlos had lost, his breaths were short and shallow. It was a miracle he wasn't undead already. Betty wouldn't be in time. Carlos would be completely infected soon.

"Go Jill. Make sure L.J doesn't run into any trouble." She smiled at the shorter woman who flung herself at Claire and hugged her tightly.

It was over before Claire could even register what had happened and Jill was already nearing the Hummer when she recovered from the shock.

"I can barely hear his heart." Alice murmured as she came to stand next to Claire. "You should go too. I can handle this." It was more an offer than a command.

One Alice knew Claire wouldn't accept.

Claire shook her head. "It's my responsibility." She whispered as she drew her Glock and aimed it at her friend's head.

Claire's hand shook uncontrollably and she hoped that she wouldn't miss, because she doubted she'd be able to pull the trigger a second time. She was briefly grateful that Carlos was unconscious and she didn't have to see those kind chocolate eyes staring up at her. But Claire could remember them vividly. Carlos reminded her of her brother Chris, strong and brave and honourable. And in spite of the authoritative hierarchy they upheld in the Convoy, he was her friend.

Taking a deep shaky breath, she closed her eyes, trying to steady her weapon as best she could, and pressed down on the trigger. Claire kept her eyes shut tightly, she didn't want to see the sight that would most likely be added on to the many horrors that haunted her already. She felt the Glock being removed from her hand and then instantly strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her tenderly into a soft comforting chest.

Claire relaxed into the security the familiarity of Alice's body provided, and started crying softly against her shoulder. She welcomed the soothing circles Alice's hand caressed over her back and the loving way the blonde stroked caringly through her hair.

The rest of the Convoy would be there soon and then she would have to be strong for them again. But for now Claire didn't have to worry about pretending she was fine. For now she could just mourn the loss of her friend within the sanctuary of Alice's arms.

…

They buried Carlos soon after the rest of the group arrived. Predictably, his was one death that the entire Convoy struggled with most. Carlos had been a friendly guy and he had saved most of the Convoy's lives on a few occasions. But Claire Redfield's Convoy were made up of _survivors_, out of individuals who have clawed their way out of death defying situations. They knew what it took to survive in the unforgiving world they lived in. And more than anything, they knew that the key to keep on living, was to keep on _moving_.

So that's what they did, with watery eyes and tear stained cheeks. They set out to salvage what they could, digging through the thick layer of sand, and loaded up the Convoy with gas and supplies, finding reassurance in the fact that Claire Redfield still stood strong and vigilant, watching over their every move.

…..

"So we're just planning on riding up to an Umbrella facility and taking their helicopters?" Jill asked sarcastically from the backseat of the Hummer.

She was seated next to K-Mart who was staring despondently out the window. Out of everyone, the blonde teenager was probably the closest to Carlos. They were both people people, who enjoyed the company and the closeness of others.

"The facility will be located underground." Alice started explaining as she drove. "The weather station is a decoy."

She glanced briefly at Claire in the front passenger seat who was seemingly on Jill's side on this.

"The Hive in Raccoon City ran 1300ft deep. The blueprints indicated this one has a depth of 1800ft. There is one lengthy elevator shaft leading downward." Alice looked at the two women before turning her eyes back on the road. "If we are fast enough, we may be able to get to the helicopters and fly off before they even have a chance to get up to the surface and launch a counter-attack."

Claire and Jill still didn't look convinced.

"Dr Isaacs is infected." Alice murmured, really not having wanted to talk about the man in front of Claire.

"Wait. What?" Jill asked. "Mad fucking scientist Dr Isaacs is at_ that_ facility and he's _infected_?" Jill grinned and then it dropped summarily from her face. "Good infected or bad infected?" She asked, narrowing her eyes and scrunching her brows together.

"You get good infected?" Claire asked baffled, then her eyes widened in realization and she smiled sheepishly, looking at Alice. "Oh. Good infected. Got it."

Alice smiled at Claire affectionately before answering.

"I dunno. It smelled like the virus was spreading, like he was rotting from the inside like a normal infection, but at a slower rate." Alice frowned trying to remember.

He hadn't smelled like the Axemen, but he should've gone down when she shot him. The blonde wasn't entirely sure how much she could trust that Dr Isaacs would soon just be another undead. "If he does turn, he'll probably infect most of the facility below."

"One can only hope."

"Uh… Who's Dr Isaacs?" Claire asked tentatively starting to feel just how little she knew of Alice's past.

Claire turned to Jill as Alice remained silent. Jill then turned to Alice, causing Claire to look back at the shaggy blonde expectantly.

"He _rescued_ me after I died in a helicopter crash." Alice said sarcastically and Jill snorted her disgust. "He revived me and experimented on me for weeks. That's how I got my telekinetic abilities." She told Claire. "He thought he could control me, but Jill, Angie, L.J and… Carlos, came and saved me from him." She smiled at the brunette in the rear-view mirror and Claire took hold of her hand.

"I'm not sure if I should be grateful to him or kill him." Claire muttered angrily.

"Definitely kill him." Jill answered grinning devilishly and both Claire and Alice chuckled in response.

"Let's go check it out, if it's not safe, we continue to Alaska with the convoy." Alice offered and Claire gave her consent with an affirming nod and a gentle squeeze of her hand.

…

"Well that doesn't look safe at all." Claire murmured where she was lying flat on her stomach in between the cover of a few sandy coloured rocks, on a hilltop with a clear view of the weather station which housed the entrance to a secret underground Umbrella facility.

The weather station was fenced off and all around it were hundreds of undead, trying in vain to get in, and many more slowly gravitating toward it out of the distance. They'd certainly experienced a drastic decline in the frequency and amount of undead they'd encountered over the last few days and it made Claire wonder if this was where most of them had headed… And how many people were in that facility if it served as such a tempting destination.

Claire also noticed two sleek black Aerospatiale AS355 Twin Squirrel helicopters and that made her reconsider Alice's plan in spite of the zombie threat. And not _only_ because Claire really missed flying with all of her heart.

Claire sat upright and leaned her back against a nearby rock. It was only her and Alice on the secluded hilltop. With Carlos gone, Claire thought it best for Jill to be around in case anything goes wrong in her and Alice's absences.

Alice got up too and mimicked Claire's position against a rock opposite the redhead. They sat in silence for a while. Before Claire picked up her binoculars and looked toward the weather station again.

"You said you deactivated the microchip in your brain by sort of short-circuiting it?" Claire asked Alice not quite able to hide her scepticism at the idea.

Saying it out loud still didn't make it seem any less unbelievable. But then again, Alice also created a gigantic cloud of fire as well as tore an Axeman's limbs from its body and exploded his head with her mind. She also stopped a bullet that had been heading straight for Claire's head.

"I know it's a bit difficult to wrap your head around Claire." Alice gave Claire that lazy grin that made her stomach flutter. "But that's exactly what I did." She reasserted with a firm nod.

Claire couldn't help but smile back at her and nodded that she did believe the woman. It _was_ just a bit hard to wrap her head around.

Claire drew her gun and laid it on the ground next to her.

"Would you be able to take this gun apart with your mind?" She asked curiously and Alice cocked her head to the side, but clearly decided to humour the redhead.

"I could yes." She answered smugly.

"Would it make you weaker or pass out like you did when you made the Axeman's head explode?" Claire asked worriedly and Alice smiled at the genuine concern in her voice.

"Moving large things, over a long period of time obviously takes more energy. I try not to use my psionic ability because it's draining and makes me vulnerable to any further attacks I had not anticipated." Alice explained. "That day in the canyon though, if I had just focused on exploding the Axeman's head, I wouldn't have been unconscious for as long. Though I would've passed out since I'd already taken quite the beating and I was keeping the entire Convoy trapped within their vehicles as well." She said warily not wanting to upset Claire again.

"So why didn't you _just_ explode his head?" Claire rolled her eyes thinking back on how stressed she was when Alice wouldn't wake up.

She had thought the blonde had fallen into some sort of brain dead coma she wasn't going to wake up from. It was only upon seeing her injuries healing that Claire allowed herself to hope that Alice would recover fully.

Alice gave the redhead a shy slanted smile.

"I got a little upset when he almost hit you with his axe and I may have lost it a bit." She admitted, sounding embarrassed yet Claire grinned back at her.

"Good guard dog." She smirked. "Maybe later I can scratch behind your ear and rub your belly." Claire offered teasingly but her smile left her face as Alice's stunning green eyed gaze penetrated her intensely, not a trace of humour visible.

"Maybe later you can rub a little lower." The blonde told Claire in a low rasping voice that had Claire's tummy clenching in response.

The redhead swallowed thickly, humming her agreement. She then purposely looked toward the congregation of undead in the distance to try and quench her desire to throw herself at Alice right then and there.

"Later…" She murmured and smiled up at the blonde. "_Definitely_ later. But first I need to find out if you can pick a lock?"

…

Alice was watching with unmasked admiration as Claire welded grills that were removed from the other vehicles onto the front of the school bus. Her plan was brilliant, Alice didn't think she was capable of being more in awe of the redhead, but Claire Redfield had proven her very wrong.

"So no more tracking and controlling you huh?" Jill said walking up to blonde, nudging her shoulder playfully.

"Yip." Alice answered not taking her eyes off of Claire.

"That's good…" Jill trailed off as her gaze followed Alice's. "You and Redfield gonna settle down in Alaska and have some ginger babies?" Jill smirked.

Alice just shook her head and chuckled at her friend.

"About that, we need to discuss a back-up plan, in case things don't go as we hope in Alaska."

Jill nodded all trace of joking gone.

"If there's nothing, we're going to have to start all over. Find new transport… supplies, gas." Alice elaborated. "Our best bet would be to find fuel for the Choppers to bring us back here."

"But if we don't find fuel, we'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere."

Alice nodded her agreement and looked back to Claire who was now busy on the roof of the bus just above the windscreen.

"We'll need to take along as many supplies as we can, which won't be many considering the weight limitations we're dealing with." Jill continued.

"We'll have to scout towns en route that we can scour should the Choppers become useless." Alice said.

They were quiet for a while.

"Do you think Arcadia exists, Alice?" Jill asked her earnestly.

The blonde thought about it for a while and looked at her friend and it was enough of an answer for the former S.T.A.R.S member.

"Yeah, I got a bad feeling about this too."

…..

The yellow school bus stood idling just over a mile from the weather station gates, some of the undead were already turning toward it as the scent of fresh flesh hit them. On top of the bus Claire was strapping herself into the harness she'd fashioned earlier and nostalgically picked up Carlos's PM-98 submachine gun. She glanced over to Alice and Jill at her side noting that they were already strapped in as well.

"You guys ready?" She asked.

"Born ready." Jill smirked twirling her dual handguns like she was in a western movie.

Alice laughed and turned to Claire.

"Ready." She told Claire with her trademark lazy grin and Claire couldn't resist leaning in and kissing her.

"God, can't you two wait till you're alone." Jill pretended to gag but the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth said something entirely different.

Claire Redfield actually _giggled _before knocking three times on the roof of the bus which instantly started moving forward and picked up speed heading toward the 'weather station'. Below the three women, Otto was driving with the entire Convoy gathered inside.

They soon reached the large horde of undead and Claire and Jill started firing at those closest to the path the bus was taking. Alice sat in the centre, focusing her attention on the gates.

The closer they got to the closed gates, held together only by a rusty chain and padlock, the more worried Claire became and glanced nervously at Alice. If her plan failed then the bus would still be able to go through, but then that would leave a gaping hole for the undead to follow after them and leave limited time to start up the Choppers and load the survivors and supplies safely.

Claire focused her attention on shooting the undead that managed to cling to the bus in spite of its speed.

"Aaaliiiice!" Jill shouted drawing out the blonde's name as they were less than twenty yards from the gate.

Claire forgot about the undead and focused on bracing herself for impact. She'd instructed Otto not to stop until they were inside and knew that that was exactly what the man would do. She brought her arms up to cover her torso and face and gritted down on her teeth, closing her eyes.

When the bus came to a stop and nothing had happened, Claire saw that they'd made it inside. Alice had managed to undo the padlock and chain and the blonde was already jumping off the bus and rushing to close the gates again, firing at those undead closest to entering the facility.

Recovering from the shock that her plan had actually worked, Claire started unstrapping and followed Jill, climbing down the bus and running toward the helicopters. She jumped into the first one and started up the rotors and got the large machine ready for lift off. When she was finished she hurried to assist Jill, who was doing well for someone with only a student pilot's licence. She should've known the brunette wouldn't have volunteered if she hadn't been sure she could fly the whirly bird.

Claire's gaze searched around for Alice who was staring off at something to the side of the seemingly abandoned weather station. She followed the shaggy blonde who was gravitating toward a large trench and Claire gasped loudly at the sight that greeted them, her hand moving to cover her mouth at the shock. Her stomach dropped as the redhead saw what was luring the undead to the facility.

Hundreds of dead bodies with _Alice_'s face, clothed in the same red dress, lay in what appeared to be an open mass grave. Claire finally managed to look away from the horrific sight and turned her concerned gaze toward Alice who stood rigidly staring at what Claire could only assume were clones of her.

"Alice?" She called softly, taking the blonde's hand in her own and Alice finally became aware of her presence. A flood of silent tears were streaming down the blonde's cheeks. Alice was clearly in shock and Claire had no idea what to say to her, so she pulled the woman into a tight embrace and held her there.

The redhead felt Alice's body shaking in her grip as she hoarsely sobbed before the blonde abruptly stepped away from Claire and stared dejectedly at her copies again.

"Why do they keep on doing this to me?" Alice whispered in disbelief.

"We need to go!" Jill shouted at them over the sound of the rotator blades whirring loudly in the air. "Everyone's loaded up!"

Claire took Alice's hand again, and the blonde allowed herself to be blindly led to the first helicopter, but stopped a few feet away and Claire's heart gave a painful thud and then summarily dropped into her gut.

Claire turned her cap around on her head and with a frantically beating heart, turned toward the lanky blonde, a single tear already running over her own cheek. Claire gazed up at Alice's remorseful features.

"I have a _responsibility_." Alice whispered, her voice thick and gruff from the emotional rollercoaster she was just thrown on.

"I'm staying with you." Claire said with more confidence than she had expected.

Alice smiled sadly and looked over Claire's shoulder at K-Mart staring at the two of them with wide panic filled eyes, the red notebook clasped in her hands on her lap. Alice gave the younger blonde a sad smile and the teenager nodded solemnly showing an understanding beyond her years. Alice glanced toward the second Chopper, her eyes meeting Jill's. The brunette smiled weakly and gave Alice a lazy two-finger salute. Claire and Jill would protect each other and the rest of the Convoy.

"You have a responsibility as well." Alice told Claire who turned to look toward the two helicopters loaded with people who were all counting on their leader to fly them to safety. If Claire stayed, half of the convoy had to stay too.

"What about my responsibility to _you_?" Claire asked choking out the words and Alice tenderly pulled the redhead to her chest.

They clung to each other as though they were each the other's life raft and perhaps that was exactly what they had become for one another.

"I will find you again." Alice whispered earnestly, pressing her face into Claire's red hair, trying to inhale as much of the younger woman as she could.

Claire fisted the collar of Alice's duster as she lifted her gaze to the blonde's teary green eyes.

"Promise me." Claire demanded roughly having lost all control over the flood of emotions escaping from her eyes and trembling lips.

"I_ promise_." Alice vowed huskily and instantly Claire's lips crashed onto her own, the saltiness of their tears leaving behind a bittersweet taste on their tongues.

Alice gently took hold of Claire's shoulders and softly pushed the redhead away and held her at arm's length.

"You need to leave. I don't sense any humans here, but there are definitely undead inside." Alice warned and Claire nodded solemnly, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and her entire body trembling as she turned to the helicopter with weakening knees to find a few of her Convoy staring at the scene with watery eyes as well.

Just as she was about to get into the helicopter Alice placed a hand on Claire's shoulder, turned her around and kissed her passionately again.

"Keep safe Red." Alice said after breaking away from the kiss, giving her a heart wrenching smile.

Claire took her cap off her head nervously playing with the brim.

"My brother taught me to fight and to shoot." She told Alice. "He said that since he couldn't be around to protect me, that he'll make damn sure I could do it myself." She smiled nostalgically. "This cap is the only thing I have of his." She whispered, before leaning up and gently placing it on a shaggy blonde crown. "So I want it back." She told Alice sternly and the blonde's smile broadened. "Kick some Umbrella ass Superwoman." Claire flashed her a teary grin as her eyes travelled across Alice's face as if making double sure she wouldn't ever forget a single part of her. "_I love you_." She told Alice gruffly and kissed her again with every ounce of love that she felt.

It left Alice dazed and slightly breathless, and when she finally managed to refocus her eyes she was staring up at Claire gently raising the Chopper into the air, smirking down at the goofy grin on Alice's face.

"I love you too!" Alice shouted up at her, from beneath the bill of Claire Redfield's most prized possession. And though it was highly unlikely that the leader would've been able to hear her beyond the noise of the two Choppers ascending, the broad grin on the redhead's face in response, told Alice that Claire had understood her perfectly.

_Red can protect herself. She's done it for years. They have a plan. They'll be safe._

Alice repeated her new mantra over and over in her head, as she watched the two helicopters disappear over the hilltops. She then drew a Compact Cruiser from her back holster and turned toward the entrance of the weather station.

The blonde was fed up with Umbrella hijacking her life around every turn and treating her like she was nothing but a piece of property. She was sick and tired of all the death and the fear in the eyes of those she cared about.

Alice determinedly walked toward the entrance of the dilapidated structure and cocked her weapon vehemently. Umbrella would pay for what they'd done. She wouldn't rest until she'd destroyed all of their facilities and all of the men who ran it and thought themselves gods. Alice wouldn't stop until she destroyed Albert Wesker, Chairman of Umbrella Corporation.

And then she will go and find Claire and give her back her brother's cap.

….

THE END

….

**A/N: Chapter titles courtesy of Ray LaMontagne - Hold you in my arms.**

**Sequel now up.**


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